Dream Chaser space transporter passes test for cargo mission
The Dream Chaser space transporter has passed an important test for the flight to the ISS. Its maiden flight is scheduled for the middle of the year
Artist's impression of the Dream Chaser space freighter in space: power supply, cooling and data connection
(Image: Sierra Space)
The Dream Chaser spacecraft has successfully completed a test with payloads. The unmanned transporter from the US space company Sierra Space is due to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time in the coming months.
During the test, Sierra Space was to demonstrate that the Dream Chaser can carry various payloads. The company used three payloads to demonstrate its ability to supply them with power and cool them. In addition, the data exchange between the spacecraft, payloads and the control centers of Sierra Space and the US space agency NASA (National Aeronautics And Space Administration) was simulated.
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The payloads were transportation and storage systems, primarily for scientific experiments. Polar, for example, is used to store scientific samples on board the ISS and other spacecraft at temperatures ranging from minus 95 degrees Celsius to plus 10 degrees Celsius. The Powered Ascent Utility Locker (PAUL) transports two CubeLab experiments, which are primarily used for biological research and need to be supplied with power during the ascent. Payload number three was the Single Stowage Locker, a standard NASA transportation system for various payloads to be transported by the Dream Chaser.
Dream Chaser can transport special payloads
"Tests like these are an important demonstration of the Dream Chaser spacecraft's capabilities and show that we are able to transport specialized payloads, such as vital scientific research, which will be an essential part of our mission to the ISS, said Pablo Gonzalez, who is responsible for Crew & Cargo Transportation Systems at Sierra Space. The test, which took place in January at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, brings the company "another step closer to launch," according to Gonzalez.
The Dream Chaser space transporter is similar in concept and appearance to the Space Shuttle: it is a reusable spacecraft that returns to Earth at the end of its mission and lands on a runway like an airplane.
However, it is to be carried into space by a rocket, enclosed by a payload fairing. The Dream Chaser is also unmanned and significantly smaller than the space shuttle: it is 9 meters long and its upward-angled wings have a wingspan of 7 meters. By comparison, the space shuttles were over 37 meters long and had a wingspan of just under 24 meters.
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The Dream Chaser is designed to transport 5 tons of pressurized and 500 kilograms of unpressurized cargo to the ISS. On the return flight, it can bring 1.75 tons back to Earth. The original plan was for the Dream Chaser to fly to the space station in 2014. The first orbital flight is now scheduled to take place in May at the earliest.
NASA had selected the Sierra Nevada Corporation as one of the companies to take over the supply of the ISS after the end of the space shuttle program in 2011. This task was taken on by the spin-off Sierra Space.
(wpl)
