Sierra Nevada Corporation has developed the Dream Chaser, a 30-foot-long "space utility vehicle" it's marketing as a crew and cargo transport device to get both into low Earth orbit, or LEO.
I think this is a great development and the public-private model (i.e. NASA and various commercial enterprises) is the way to go for at least the LEO stuff. My hope, though, is that we'll break out of low Earth orbit soon and start heading ' out there' -- whether first back to the Moon or to Mars and beyond, someday -- because that's where we're meant to be.
We're an explorer species, after all. So let's go exploring, because the effort we put into such space exploration has always led to uncounted positive developments -- such as inventions across a wide spectrum of endeavor -- that benefit the entirety of the human race.
"At 30 feet long, it looks like a Matchbox car crossed with a stingray. But it has outsize ambitions. Its maker, Sierra Nevada Corporation, calls it a “space utility vehicle,” marketing it as a crew and cargo transport to low Earth orbit. After delivery, the idea goes, it will fly down to the kind of runways that line big-city airports. That could make it a uniquely accessible piece of space infrastructure—for NASA, other nations, or even companies that want to try their hands at spaceflight.
During today’s “captive carry” test, Sierra Nevada aimed to see whether its SUV rides as expected at the altitudes where it will later free-fly. But it’s not ready to go that high on its own, so the Chinook lifted it there, flying it around in loops like a parent keeping a hand on the back of a kid’s bike seat.
The Dream Chaser’s basic design came from Russia—or, to be more precise, from spying on Russia."
Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser Hitches a Ride With a Helicopter | WIRED
"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
I think this is a great development and the public-private model (i.e. NASA and various commercial enterprises) is the way to go for at least the LEO stuff. My hope, though, is that we'll break out of low Earth orbit soon and start heading ' out there' -- whether first back to the Moon or to Mars and beyond, someday -- because that's where we're meant to be.
We're an explorer species, after all. So let's go exploring, because the effort we put into such space exploration has always led to uncounted positive developments -- such as inventions across a wide spectrum of endeavor -- that benefit the entirety of the human race.
"At 30 feet long, it looks like a Matchbox car crossed with a stingray. But it has outsize ambitions. Its maker, Sierra Nevada Corporation, calls it a “space utility vehicle,” marketing it as a crew and cargo transport to low Earth orbit. After delivery, the idea goes, it will fly down to the kind of runways that line big-city airports. That could make it a uniquely accessible piece of space infrastructure—for NASA, other nations, or even companies that want to try their hands at spaceflight.
During today’s “captive carry” test, Sierra Nevada aimed to see whether its SUV rides as expected at the altitudes where it will later free-fly. But it’s not ready to go that high on its own, so the Chinook lifted it there, flying it around in loops like a parent keeping a hand on the back of a kid’s bike seat.
The Dream Chaser’s basic design came from Russia—or, to be more precise, from spying on Russia."
Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser Hitches a Ride With a Helicopter | WIRED
"Politics is just show business for ugly people."