Who wants to ride “Space Ship”? smile
This new space plane just got one step closer to liftoff, and it could change spaceflight to the ISS in years to come.
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The Space Shuttle Orbiter is an iconic symbol of human space exploration, and we haven’t seen anything like its unique design since its retirement in 2011.
Until now.
Engineers at the Sierra Nevada Corporation’s facility in Colorado are in the early stages of assembling the new space plane, called the Dream Chaser.
The Dream Chaser is one of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract recipients, and the vehicle will join the fleet of utility spacecraft, like SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus module.
But unlike those spacecraft, the Dream Chaser is shaped like a plane, allowing for the space plane to be reused 15 times or more, reducing costs and allowing for quick turnaround between missions.
The space plane’s shape is not the only thing that makes the Dream Chaser so enticing, the vehicle is also capable of supporting a variety of needs, like landing on runways used to passenger planes; carrying various loads of cargo; supporting a microgravity lab; and disposing of waste from the International Space Station (ISS).
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