News Dream Chaser Spacecraft Arrives at NASA Armstrong

[Nicholas Kang]

Official NASA Press Statement:https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/features/dreamchaser_arrives_at_armstrong.html

SNC delivers Dream Chaser to NASA Armstrong posing it with the HL-10 lifting body flown the 1960s (NASA Photo / Ken Ulbrich).

Sierra Nevada Corporation delivered its Dream Chaser spacecraft Wednesday to NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, located on Edwards Air Force Base. The spacecraft will undergo several months of testing at the center in preparation for its approach and landing flight on the base's 22L runway.

The test series is part of a developmental space act agreement SNC has with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The upcoming test campaign will help SNC validate the aerodynamic properties, flight software and control system performance of the Dream Chaser.

The Dream Chaser is also being prepared to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) contract beginning in 2019. The data that SNC gathers from this test campaign will help influence and inform the final design of the cargo Dream Chaser, which will fly at least six cargo delivery missions to and from the space station by 2024.

Sierra Nevada Corporation's space vehicle suspends in a hangar at NASA's Armstrong to undergo testing. Credits: NASA Photo / Ken Ulbrich

The Dream Chaser spacecraft pictured in California's desert as it heads to Edwards Air Force Base. Credits: NASA Photo / Ken Ulbrich