Dream Chaser: A family car for space

Our space columnist gets a look at the new Nasa-funded space plane, Dream Chaser, taking shape in Colorado. To get a sense of what it would be like to fly the Dream Chaser space plane hop into the front seat of a car - ideally a large SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) or minivan - preferably with six friends. Instead of a steering wheel in front of you, picture a joystick. Instead of a dashboard, a row of flatscreen displays. Now shut and lock the doors, fasten your seatbelts and were ready to go. Next stop, the International Space Station (ISS). Dream Chaser is being built by the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) in the US mid-western state of Colorado. It is one of three concepts backed by Nasa to replace the retired Space Shuttle and is designed to carry crew and cargo to and from orbit. The other two concepts SpaceXs Dragon and Boeings, uninspiringly named CST-100 are both capsules, not much different in appearance to the Apollo spacecraft that took men to the Moon. But even Dream Chasers designers liken the space plane to a large family car, and sitting at the controls its easy to see why. The mock-up cabin is certainly no wider and the windows surrounding the two pilots offer similar visibility. Behind the front seats, theres room for five more astronauts with a small area at the back for luggage. On the outside, it resembles a shoe with two wings poking out diagonally at the back. The space planes squat, compact shape was inspired by a fuzzy 1970s spy photograph of an experimental Soviet aircraft. Nasa engineers spent more than a decade reverse engineering and developing the concept. They even built a full-sized mock-up before the project was quietly shelved. SNC has now been working on Dream Chaser for the last nine years and, with a recent extra $212 million from NASA, is getting close to finally turning the dream into reality. It started as a dream, admits Mark Sirangelo, head of SNC Space Systems. It was a very small group of people that looked to the future and said we think that when the Shuttle retires, that theres a place for a modern version of that shuttle. The reality is quite real now. We have built our vehicle, we have actually conducted our first test flight, the vehicle will do its first autonomous [atmospheric] flight later this yearand were now in the final three companies who are going to be looked towards to produce a vehicle that can take people and cargo back and forth to the space station. Blurred vision Comparisons with a mid-sized family hatchback even extend to the factory, on the outskirts of Denver, where the first space plane is taking shape. It resembles a garage workshop, where

you expect to see mechanics tinkering with cars; instead theyre preparing the first Dream Chaser for flight. The plane sits in a bay at the end of the room beneath a vast Stars and Stripes flag. Constructed primarily of carbon fibre, the first impression of Dream Chaser is that its, wellsmall. With no massive engines or cargo bay, and only a couple of metres off the ground, it is quite unlike any other space plane design. And whereas the Space Shuttle was, notoriously, the most complicated machine ever built, Dream Chaser is much simpler. We look at it what jobs are needed, says Sirangelo. Were not taking big pieces to and from the Space Station any more, were taking people and critical cargo back and forth and its designed in size for that purpose. Dream Chaser will be launched on the top of an Atlas 5 rocket (although it could be launched on Europes Ariane rocket), with the astronauts lying on their backs looking through the front windows at the sky. Although not yet rated for manned spaceflight, Atlas 5 is one of the most reliable US launchers ever built. The space planes engines would only be fired in space to change orbit, catch up and dock with the ISS and de-orbit before returning to Earth. Similar SNC engines have already flown in space on the first privately operated human spacecraft, Spaceship One, and are being built for Virgin Galactics Spaceship Two. Like the Shuttle, and these other designs, Dream Chaser would glide back to Earth - a feature its designers are keen to highlight. Within eight to 10 hours of leaving the station, were on the ground on a runway, says Sirangelo. We come home with less than 2Gs twice the force of gravity unlike most capsules, which come down to an ocean landing or a desert landing and come down at a much higher rate of descent. That could damage the experiments and could make it much more difficult for the people coming home. The ability to return fragile equipment or experiments from the space station is one of the big selling points of the Dream Chaser concept. The only return option at the moment is a cramped and bumpy landing in a Russian Soyuz capsule, which barely accommodates its three astronauts. Theres certainly room for cargo in the Dream Chaser (depending on how many astronauts are being flown) but where space planes really have the edge over capsules is their versatility. The Shuttle was so much more than a space cargo hauler. It allowed, for example, astronauts to fix satellites and telescopes in orbit. Without it, the Hubble Space Telescope would still have blurry vision (and would probably have failed by now). But with the demise of the Shuttle, that ability was lost. Now, Dream Chaser could bring it back. Like the Shuttle (and unlike most capsules)it has an airlock enabling astronauts to leave the plane for space walks. The missions ... could be to go out and repair things in space [or] help with the large and growing problem of space debris how could we move a satellite out of the way before it causes a problem?, says Sirangelo.

As a transport craft to and from the ISS, Dream Chaser faces stiff competition from SpaceX and Boeing. But Sirangelo believes, once the considerable development and construction work is done, it will find lots of different roles....just like any good family car. As with most SUVs, you haul your family around, he says. "But sometimes you take supplies around, sometimes you go camping, sometimes you fix things with it and thats what were trying to do with this vehicle.

Fund: 1. A supply of money or pecuniary resources, as for some purpose 2. Supply, stock 3. Funds, money immediately available; pecuniary resources Shape 1. The quality of a distinct object or body in having an external surface or outline of specific form or figure 2. This quality as found in some individual object or body form 3. Something seen in outline, as in silhouette 4. The collective conditions forming a way of life or mode of existence Hop 1. To make a short, bouncing leap 2. To spring or lea on one foot 3. Informal. to make a short, quick trip, especially in an airplane Fasten 1. To attach firmly or security in place; fix securely to something else. 2. To make secure, as an article of dress with buttons, clasps 3. To enclose securely, as a person or an animal Backed 1. Having a back, backing, setting , or support (often used in combination) 2. (of fabric) having an extra set of threads in either the warp or the weft to provide added warmth Mock-up 1. A model, often full-size, for study, testing, or teaching

Squat Verb (used without object)

2. To sit in a low or crouching position with the legs drawn up closely beneath or in front of the body; sit on ones haunches or heels 3. To crouch down or cower, as an animal 4. To settle on or occupy property, especially otherwise unoccupied property, without any title, right, or payment of rent 5. Nautical.(of a vessel, especially a power vessel) to drawn more water astern when in motion forward than when at rest. Verb (used with object) 1. To cause to squat 2. To occupy (property) as a squatter Aircraft 1. Any machine supported for flight in the air by buoyancy or by the dynamic action of air airplanes, glides and helicopters. Blurred 2. A color about midway between blue and red in the spectrum; purplish Outskirts 3. Often, outskirts. The outlying district or region, as of a city, metropolitan area, or the like 4. Usually, the border or fringes of a specified quality, condition, or the like Resembles 1. To be like or similar to 2. Archaic. To liken or compare Tinker noun 1. 2. 3. 4. A mender of pots, kettles, pans, etc.. An unskillful or clumsy worker; bunger A person skilled in various minor kinds of mechanical work An act or instance of tinkering

Launch (verb) 1. To set ( a boat or ship) in the water

2. To float (a newly constructed boat or ship) usually by allowing to slide down inclined ways into the water 3. To send forth, catapult, or release, as a self-propelled vehicle or weapon 4. To star ( a person) on a course, career, etc