/sci/ - Science & Math

>>11887906
cooler than the enormous shuttle we got. I think of it as "right-sized".

>>11241318
indeed, Dream Chaser is a beauty. The shuttle concept, right-sized.

>>10214447
I'm hoping that Dream Chaser succeeds at cargo delivery, so they go back to its original purpose of launching crew.

>>9865866
another point: continues the HL-20 line of engineering for determining if smaller spaceplanes are economical. We already had the failed experiment for large planes with the Shuttle.

Shame though that they only got the contract for cargo delivery, it would be a great crew vehicle.

>>9498417
Hooray!

I hope this eventually gets their foot in the door for the original crewed design, if only as an emergency backup for evacuation. (It would be the best option for a medical evac, since it has lower G loads on reentry than the other capsules.)

>>9151573
o rly?

Dream Chaser is looking pretty good for its role. It's amazing how much simpler it became by transporting just crew or just cargo. Much better design than the Shuttle, made by one company rather than by committee.

>>8099787
>NASA is building a new Space Shuttle

No, Sierra Nevada bought SpaceDev, which was building Dream Chaser. Which is based on HL-20, a 30-year-old lifting body design that NASA discarded.

Dream Chaser was designed as a crew transporter, but NASA didn't want to pay for it, so they are redesigning it as yet another cargo hauler for the ISS.

The only thing NASA is doing to this lovely design is fucking it up by refusing to fund it properly.

>>6544878
and spaceplanes. Dream Chaser is still in the running for the Commercial Crew contract.

>>6442435
for comparison