Press Release.-
Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC)
Dream Chaser full-scale, flight test vehicle is ready for
transportation to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) in
California where Phase Two flight tests will be conducted in
coordination with Edwards Air Force Base (AFB). Dream Chaser program
upgrades and initial hardware testing were completed at the Louisville,
Colorado spacecraft assembly facility, and within the next several
weeks the same Dream Chaser vehicle that conducted Phase One flight
testing will arrive at NASA’s AFRC. Upon arrival, SNC will begin a
series of pre-flight ground evaluations to verify and validate the
vehicle’s system and subsystem designs.
After successful completion of
all ground testing, Dream Chaser will begin its Phase Two free-flight
testing. These activities are being conducted through a Space Act
Agreement with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP).
“Dream Chaser continues to make strong progress toward orbital flight,” said Mark N. Sirangelo, corporate vice president of SNC’s Space Systems business area. “In addition to Phase Two flight testing, our on-time completion of the first two milestones
under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract in the
last two months positions us well to be on-schedule for orbital
operational flight.
We are very grateful for all the support we have
received from NASA and the U.S. Air Force, and are excited to continue
the legacy of historic flight testing that is the hallmark of NASA AFRC
and Edwards AFB.”
What Are We Testing?
The vehicle will undergo a series of tests building on those
performed in Phase One, including tow-tests, pre-flight tests and
ending with free-flight testing. SNC is also performing additional
critical tests to validate the Dream Chaser’s orbital flight software
and calculate the spacecraft's handling and performance
characteristics. Along with other pre-flight and post-flight
evaluations, this data will be used to confirm Dream Chaser’s subsonic
aerodynamic properties as well as flight software and control system
performance requirements.
“These tests are significant for us in
multiple ways; building on our previous flight test, completing a
significant milestone under our CCP agreement, as well as gathering
crucial data that will help complete the design of the vehicle being
built for our CRS-2 contract,” said Sirangelo.
CCP Testing Supports CRS-2 Development
The Phase Two flight test efforts will be highly
supportive of, and executed in parallel with continued work being done
by SNC under the NASA CRS-2 program. The Dream Chaser test vehicle has
been upgraded to include several hardware and software components being
integrated into the Dream Chaser Cargo System design for the CRS-2
program, allowing for actual flight testing of the new components. The
flight tests will act as a bridge between previous work with CCP and the
next-generation vehicle currently under development for the
forthcoming International Space Station cargo resupply missions.
About Sierra Nevada Corporation
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) provides customer-focused
technology solutions in the areas of aerospace, aviation, electronics
and systems integration. SNC has been honored as one of “The World’s Top
10 Most Innovative Companies in Space,” and one of America’s fastest
growing companies. SNC’s Space Systems business area based in
Louisville, Colorado, designs and manufactures advanced spacecraft,
space vehicles, rocket motors and spacecraft subsystems and components
for the U.S. Government, commercial customers, as well as for the
international market. SNC has more than 25 years of space heritage,
participating in more than 450 successful space missions and delivering
4,000+ systems, subsystems and components around the world.
For more information on SNC visit www.sncorp.com
and follow us at Facebook.com/SierraNevCorp and Twitter @SierraNevCorp.
Sierra Nevada Corporation and SNC are trademarks of Sierra Nevada
Corporation.
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