The Dreamcatcher is going into production...The game is about to change. "WASHINGTON — Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has won NASA approval to begin full-scale production of its Dream Chaser cargo spacecraft scheduled to make its first flight in about two years. The company announced Dec. 18 that it completed a milestone in its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) 2 contract called Integrated Review 4. With that milestone, the company is cleared to move ahead into assembly of the Dream Chaser vehicle that will deliver cargo to the station. “NASA’s acknowledgement that SNC has completed this critical milestone and its approval of full production of the first Dream Chaser spacecraft is a major indication we are on the right path toward increasing vital science return for the industry,” John Curry, CRS-2 program director at the company, said in a statement announcing the milestone. " https://spacenews.com/dream-chaser-cleared-to-begin-full-scale-production/
This is going to destroy the old Soyuz deathtraps and starve Russia just a bit more. I always hated the fact we paid them to help us in space and at the same time risked the lives of everyone we sent. Next up...SpaceX Dragon.
Wow, that's really good news. And it's so small compared to the old one. I guess that goes to show what automation can do. I don't know if this space shuttle has a launch bay in the back like the old one did.
Designed for very different purposes. The shuttle was largely designed to deploy satellites and modules for the space station.
Yup..and with SpaceX and others in play now, launches have become far less expensive. NASA is wise to use private companies for almost everything anymore and focus on the BIG stuff (as in exploration) but very soon people will start asteroid mining and eventually commercial real estate building.
My space bucket list: 1) On the moon, large inflatable buildings will make it possible to have large spaces. And on the moon, the gravity is only about 1/6. So on the moon, a person could don a set of wings and fly like a bird! 2). One of the moons of Mars, Deimos, has an escape velocity less than what a person can achieve by running and jumping. So I want to jump off of Deimos and land on Mars. 3). I want a personal reentry suit and have requested one from a friend at Blue Origin. I want to jump off the space station and land in my back yard. 4). I want to pee off of the space station. 5). Space sex occupies the next 35 items on my list.
Good list but bypass our moon, the dust and radiation are deadly and a space station in its orbit allows for much better sexual adventures. Maybe an inflatable in a Lava tube.
43) Do a high-velocity orbit around a black hole just beyond the event horizon. If done properly, I will see myself entering as I exit and will have gone back in time. Not sure how to avoid being crushed and spaghettified yet, so maybe I should do that last.
The mission is very different. The Shuttle was a heavy lift vehicle. This is more akin to a reusable Soyuz.
Back when it first launched, I remember it being called a space truck. I mentioned satellite releases and carrying modules for the space station. But the other core mission was to retrieve satellites for repair or modifications, and then deploying them again. The most notable repair done was on the Hubble telescope, of course.
The Hubble Mission: Note that the body of the telescope is a little bigger than a full-sized school bus.
OP Like I always ask - how do you get rich beyond your wildest dreams? Answer: Get a government contract and you'll soon be sick of the sight of money.
Dreamcatcher is a part of the NASA Commercial Crew Program and not intended to carry large scale cargo. Traditional launches will eventually fall to the SpaceX's of America and repairs if required done by spacewalk. https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html
As I said, a reusable Soyuz. That is the one that carries crew and light cargo. The Progress is the Russian unmanned ship that carries larger cargos. And yes, Soyuz can operate in an unmanned mode and bring up larger cargo, but those missions are primarily done by Progress because it is more efficient in doing so.
That ship will be great for people going to the ISS and for repair missions to stuff in Earth orbit. I doubt it will ever go to a Lagrange point and back - required if we ever wanted to fix or refuel the Webb telescope we're putting there. (Webb will be at one of the points that still requires station keeping, thus when it runs out of fuel it will float off to who knows where.) To go to mars and back will take more than 500 days. Starting from the moon doesn't cut that mission length by much and it doesn't account for any time actually spent at Mars. That will require a dramatically different vehicle. It would require room for constant exercise and include shielding against full on space radiation if we plan for them to live, given the health damage studies show has been done to astronauts from Apollo to ISS.
Hence, the LOP-G. Leaving from an optimal lunar orbit is a shorter distance than leaving from the Earth, or from LEO. The savings of such a platform is that they can send up the space craft in multiple segments then assemble it in orbit. In this way it can be larger than s traditional craft built on the Earth, and not need the massive engines needed to get it in orbit then launch it on it's way. At this time the habitable area is expected to be about the size of a bus, and unlike traditional vessels it will need little in propulsion since it does not need to escape the gravity well of a planet.
So where's it going - no, don't tell me, let me guess . . . Mars? You can tell me why Mars, if you like. And only Dan Dare says 'spacewalk', we say EVA.
