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A I R &SPAC to thenextgeneration.” to our vehicle to take [spaceflight] learned from it and applying that the shuttle, taking everything we “We’re an evolutionary step from division. Systems Exploration Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space of president vice avuncular the Voss, Jim avows problems,” tle’s 2.0. “We’re not fixing all the shut Shuttle make to trying not is it says vehicle this building pany the kinship is clear. Still, the com overallcanted.shape,inandBut tail—andthewingsareupswept to nose from long feet 30 only to the . It’s smaller— it’s hard to ignore its resemblance believe we’re doing something important room community near bed a Denver, Louisville, in he said, headquarters “I Nevada’s Sierra at November last met we When already.” times three retired “I’ve says: InternationalSpace Station. Now 63,he the on daysconsecutive 163 spent and missions shuttle six flew he astronaut, former A spaceflight. of era earlier an S E TAN airspacemag.com Vosshimself isfamiliara figure from DI N G BE S IDE , - - -

Other

Guys LEFT: NASA KSC; ABOVE: UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER States, is developing the CST-100 capsule. capsule. CST-100 the developing is States, spaceflightsystemUnitedtheflown by human every virtually in hand its had aerospacecontractorhistory,in having sule designs. Boeing, the most heavyweights pursuing experiencedconventional cap SierraNevada competingis against two transport astronauts into space. governmentwill hireprivate a entity to rockets).Itwill bethefirst time theU.S. (cargo will also travel aboard commercial canferry astronauts toand from theISS nishNASA reusablewitha vehicle that The primary aim of the program is to fur agency and commercial firms. program, a partnership between the Commercialspace Crew Integrated NASA’sCapability for contract the win to hopes . hybrid-fueledengines and carbon-fibera mannedorbitalvehicle,a including on numerous innovations never before used concept called a ,based on a long-established it incorporates aerodynamic runwaylanding. While Dream Chaser is orbit, then returning home in a glide to a variety of multi-day missions in lowofdocking Earthwith the ISS, orperforming a toreach its final destination. It’s capable enginesChaserDreamignitewouldits After decoupling from its launch vehicle, be carried to space atop an rocket. plane that, if it is selected by NASA,Chaser, a seven-passenger reusable space would Dream constructing is Nevada Sierra humans into space.” launching into back States United the for our nation. It’s the opportunity to get For the contract, worth up to $1 billion, Nevada Sierra Chaser, Dream With Voss showed me around the bay where - - - Sierra Nevada with just $212 million. funding whileSpaceX, to million $440 hasawarded $460 million toBoeing and mencingthree years later. To date, NASA Phase 4, with trips to the space station com in May 2014, will proceed to themight choose program’stwo), setto beannounced design(ordesigns—NASA hashinted it of-conceptdemonstration. Thewinning proof- convincing NASAa gave Dragon tion. Though the mission sta wasspace the with unmanned,dock to vehicle built history when it became the first privately theSpaceX capsule, called Dragon, made 2012, 25, May On TeslaMotors. maker co-founded PayPal and luxury electric-car lionaire Elon Musk, the entrepreneurThe other competitor is SpaceX, led whoby bil astronaut Jim Voss (above) came outof retirement to helplead theunderdog e it from an put through its aerodynamic paces last year when its maker, Sierra Nevada, dangled Opposite: Vying for thejobof Why so little? Even though Sierra Sierra though Even little? so Why E rickson Air-Crane helicopter over Je count out this Colorado company. Colorado this out count don’t but The — SpaceX is taxi. pick likely space a needs NASA f rst commercial astronaut hauler, - - - JamesMuncy, president ofPoliSpace, an but never done human spaceflight,”systems space unmanned on notesand tems sys on worked “They’ve killer. crewedspacecraft could NASAbea deal 2012). Jan. Dec. Mars,” on in “Dropping (see safely touch down on Mars in for August 2012 theinnovative sky-crane system builtit is fame to claim Nevada’s Sierra craft. and various components for other space and avionics equipment, microsatellites, Thecompany manufactures navigation vehicle.spacecrewed a builtnever has it revenue, annual in billion $1.2 and rationwithmore than 2,100 employeescorpo aerospace 49-year-old a is Nevada f SierraNevada’s lackexperienceof in Curiosity erson County, Colorado. Former

BY MICHAEL MICHAEL BY , which, enabled the rover to AU G UST D ream Chaser got 2013 A I R & SPAC & R B EHAR

f 2011/ ort. E

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| the aloft, carryingSikorsky itS-64 from Skycrane the helicopterend hoistedonesuccessful flight test. In May 2012, a ure.” And Dream Chaser has alreadyspace missions and we’ve madenever had a fail flown4,000 things on over 413 different Chaser team, defends his company: “We’ve now. By definitionthey’rebehind.” Boeing and they’re not flying something put together a good team. But they’re have notand company, credible a They’re themautomaticallyup underdog.anas newthing forSierra Nevada, which sets nershipsspacein exploration. “This a is an advocacy group for public-private part co-founded the Space FrontierMuncyalso firm.consultingaerospace Foundation, ing to chief of the NASA Astronaut which Office.he commanded three, eventually ris anastronaut onfive shuttle missions, of then and pilotForceU.S. testAir a was of Dream Chaser flight operations.the underdog,” Lindsey says Steve Lindsey, director Center in Edwards, California. flightatNASA’s Dryden Flight Research autonomous first its make will Chaser occurssummer,laterthis Dreamwhen a billion-dollarconglomerate. feels more like a cash-strapped startup than The team members work in a setting that performance data. A far more critical test initscomposite-fiber airframe collected feet,whiledozens sensorsof embedded altitudeanaveraging atmph 115 3,000 “flew”forabout hour,an doing roughly of a 100-foot-long steel cable. Dream Chaser

A I “We don’t mind people perceiving us as Voss, who leads the 200-member Dream R &SPAC E airspacemag.com - - - DreamChaserloveddesign,the team,I the jump from NASA because I liked the SierracametoNevada.hewhy made “I believe in what we’re doing.” I asknot forLindsey the job. They’re here because they of people who are here not for the money,goes further, claiming: “We have a team given a lot more freedom here.” Lindsey sions—but says of Sierra Nevada,mis shuttle space “We25 first the for arecrews his 32 years at NASA—where he trained its flight simulator. McMillan cherishes Chaser’s pilot training program and run Dream manage to retirement forsook who McMillan, Stokes engineer tems sys chief is members team the Among THE might beturned outquicker. Tooling can bechanged faster for composites thanfor metal, so additional vehicles D We are the other guys.” We are somewhere in the middle of that. one is the old-school aerospace company. says. “One is more vocal, more show, and othercompanies have their place,” Voss dominate the media limelight.ful “Eachover theof factthe that the competitors often more with less—but it keeps us fighting.” budget pretty low. It’s a challenge—doingways of doing things, all whileto come up withkeeping essentially better,our faster outsidemoreinnovative,bebox,tothe “It forced us to think differently, to think ream Chaser isthe No one at Sierra Nevada sounds resent sounds Nevada Sierra at one No OT HE R GUY S f

are no slouches. slouches. no are rst manned spacecra B elow, right: Test - - - f deck,a pair of fuzzy dice hangs from the paper. Inside the spacecraft, on the flight a section of fuselage with a piece of sand itsnose, whistling while hand polishing the floor. A technician is liccrouched jacks prop beneathDream Chaser three feet off the company’s bay, hand-cranked hydrau weekends when up against a deadline. In conglomerate. They often work cash-strappednights and startup thannimble a like amore feels billion-dollar that setting a membersitscollaborating in flythe on and I wanted to change the world,” he says. and took a weekend and did it ourselves.” went to a paint store studentgradand a and meheck,weeks. So, spent $69 on paint was getting offers of like $5,000 overfiberglass threeshell. “I put out some bids and point, he decided to paint the simulator’s available 60-inch plasma screens.” At one “I’vewrapped around five commercially BestBuy,” says.Forhe cockpit the view, at get youcomputers off-the-shelfDell seven on runs “It components. bought store- from entirely almost it assembled Dream Chaser’s flight simulator:at looking by Youtell enthusiasm.can McMillan slung openandransacked. red rolling Craftsman tool chests, drawersfloor-to-ceiling American flag—arebay—beneatha the ofway. end oneAt several dividers where makeshift repairsVoss.) areVise undergrips are clamped tosays dice,” lucky bulkheadour are they now and ceiling. (“They flew on our first flight test madeof composite (below, le f TheDreamChaser clantight-knit,is For Voss, the project differs vastly from garage-inventor exudes effort The ring of thehybrid rocket. f ). - -

SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION (2)

LEFT AND CENTER: NASA; RIGHT: NASA EDGE/RON BEARD quickerhere,” hesays. “The engineering his experiences at NASA. “We move a little as the Silbervogelthe as(“silver bird”),which envisioned a sub-orbital bomber, known a fixed-wingaircraft. in the atmosphere, where it behaves like space,rocketunderpower,inboth and features that allow the vehicle to operate belly— convex and cropped with up a manned rocket-powered Sänger. In the mid-1930s, Sänger conjuredAustrian aerospace engineer wings—isnamedoften credited Eugento an inventive liftwithfuselageits morethanwithits a lifting body—an that generates very earliest . The concept of programmatic decision,andgoon.” and in an hour we can make a decision, a a year. I can get my management togetherabout 70 [review] boards and ification,it “hehad totook gothrough, think,I almost and Mars. To approve a single design mod crewed spacecraft fora developing is missions which program, to the moon hadcome toSierra Nevada from NASA’s toldto him by one of his engineers, who shoutsover thedin. He recounts storya hoursinstead of weeks or months,” Voss in decisions “We make metal. charred of stench the and screech ear-splitting a bench grinder, filling the room with an Just then, a technician rams an objectstaffhere,isourmachine shophere.”isinto Sänger, working under , Dream Chaser’s lineage goes back to the - that if a navigational glitch forces what’s at a gut-crushing 10 Gs (or possibly twice sule, on the other hand, can hit the water cap A Gs. 1.5 just reaches it touchdown, competing designs. During reentry and atreentries cushierand thanthe smoother for make to supposed also vidingaboutpercent50totallift—isof itself andrestorelevel flight. acteristic that allows it tonaturally right Dream Chaser’s inherent stability, a char reentry.”Slimming thewings enhanced spherewouldbutprobably on burnoff shape that worked really well in the atmo aerodynamic —an slab a of more are to the wings,” says Voss. “Langley had the HL-20[atLangley]tohelpus.”) on worked had who retirees of couple a saysSierra Nevada “actually brought in (Lindsey identical. nearly are Chaser At least in shape, the HL-20 spaceplane,and the Dream revealed Soviet a of laterphotograph a tofrom bedesign the BOR-4.) the co-optedengineers(Langley 1990s. ResearchCenter inVirginia intheearly HL-20, a craft designed at NASA’s Langley X-20 Dyna-Soar. futurelifting bodies, including Boeing’s got out of the wind tunnel,back toit Earth.inspired While manythe Silbervogeltarget), thennever return and glide unpowered ordnance (New York City wasthe theedge intended of space, from couldwherezoom through the stratosphere it wouldto drop Sierra Nevada’s hybrid propulsion. Right: A modelisprepared for abu former astronaut who once worked for competitor SpaceX, sees advantages to H The inspiration (le L-20 team members later helped with Dream Chaser’s shape—its body pro body shape—its Chaser’s Dream “The only modifications we’ve made DreamChaser’s nearest cousin is the f ): H L-20, here beingtested in1989 for pitch oscillations. Some D - - - -

ream Chaser. Ken Dream Chaser would be the first manned aluminumandtwice asstrong. Though graphite fiber—that is half the weight of carbon composite—a weave of epoxy and Chaser will bring them home safely. becompletely incapacitated andDream couldcrewlandings:reentries Theand navigationsystem permits autonomous couldhaveenvisaged. Forexample, the turestheLangley group probably never fea numerous boasting HL-20, the over the namehasgrownonhim.) it when he joined SpaceDev in 2007, says Chaser.” (Voss, who admits he didn’t love Benson who christened theJames founder SpaceDev was NASA.projectIt “Dream from technology the licensed Nevada, Sierra of subsidiary a now SpaceDev, 2005, In HL-20. the of mockup scale not sufficiently buffered. land, you can damage that payload” if it slammingis into the water or slammingon them, or [they are ininto a capsule that is] carefullyorbit.inyou’reIf puttingGs 8 very things these grow “You Lindsey. protein crystals in microgravity, explains Drug companies are interested in Commercialgrowing Crew Integrated Capability. Mango,Ed NASA programmanager for roll as much, you get better science,” says safety.of don’tyou“If shake,rattle, and ile scientific cargo with a greater margin ride permits Dream Chaser to carry frag low-G A reentry). ballistic a as known And the vehicle will be made with with made be will vehicle the And Dream Chaser is a significant advance full- a as far as got engineers Langley

B AU owersox (middle), a G UST 2013 f ering test. A I R & SPAC & R E

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| chamber packed with solid propellant,this case thenitrous oxide, into a combustiona valve that allows the liquid oxidizer, in Dream Chaser’s engines work by opening for the shuttle’s three main engines. The liquid-fueled to rockets, such asthosesuperior used are they believes Nevada simplicity,safety, reusability,andtheir of Sierra Because missions. orbital for never been used on a manned spacecraft While hybrids aren’t a new idea,paying theytourists have intocarrying spacebegin to this Christmas.scheduled is which Chaser and ’s Dream both for them developing is Nevada shuttlemissions wouldwholater serve to generatethrust. ing hot gases through the exhaust nozzle chamber fires, the rubber combusts, eject to vapor. When an ignition switch in the pressurized nitrous expands and converts synthetic rubber. Once in the chamber, the propelled oxide—yes, laughing gas. Hybrid engines mixtureofsynthetic rubber andnitrous rocketengines, whichnon-toxicburn a technologyis its propulsion: two hybrid flights. lifespan and low-cost servicing between 25-mission affordably,a andwith each duplicate spaceplanes relatively quickly tic. Sierra Nevada says it could stamp out ioned in molds, produced much like plas unmanned spacecraft. Composite is fash inmaterialusedsince also2011.Theis frame and has been flying commercially air its half nearly in composite carbon employs jet passenger Dreamliner 787 spacecraftcomposite,ofmadeBoeing’s

A I Ken Bowersox, an astronaut on five on astronaut an Bowersox,Ken Perhaps the most groundbreaking groundbreaking most the Perhaps R &SPAC SpaceShipOne E airspacemag.com ,

andnowSierra SpaceShipTwo - - - - ,

can’t blow up is a canard—they can can canard—they a is up blow can’t a mystery. oxide. The cause of the detonationSpaceShipTwo remains Scaled Composites, the company employeesat threeexplosionkilled building an enthusiasmfor hybrid engines. In 2007, of that on board.” rightup to it because we don’t have any walk can you land, you when vehicle, protectOurspecialthem.tosuits in be could walk up to the vehicle.beprobably People30 minutes before anybody would everwatched shuttlethe land,wouldit you If chemical. dangerous a is which auxiliary powerby unitsdriven were that shuttle used the hydrazine, on says hydraulics Lindsey.“The propellants,” ‘green’ them call “We too. handle explosion.” into a situation where you get a fire or an near it,” explains Bowersox. “You can get it could do damage to the equipmentpretty corrosive—the that’s stuff is nasty—and lants, if you get a leak in one tank, they are orbit maneuvers. “With hypergolic propel engines and thrusters responsible for on- the shuttle, “hypergols” fueled secondary Merelymix them and they go boom. On and propellant ignite by oxidizerchemicalthewhich hypergolic infuels, reaction: deadlyhazardassociated withso-called fire.” Bowersox is alluding to a potentiallyout,you’re not necessarily going to get a spills just oxidizer the if that is engine hybrid a about thing nice “The says, twoyears asvicea president for SpaceX, “Theoft-repeated claimthathybrids Noteveryoneshares SierraNevada’s to safer are fuels Hybrid , during a test using nitrous one of four astronauts to simulate alanding. advanced testing (le hauled to NASA’s Leaving home:Last spring, -

and possibly its crew. During the shut the crew.During its possibly and an abort would entail losing the vehiclewhere flight during zones”—periods “black eliminate can hybrids Chaser’s of sloppiness.” rocket.enginetypeAnyofintolerantis other any than less or more me worry rupture.” Says Bowersox, “A hybridpressurea spike thatdoesn’t can result incasea tarilyblock the nozzle throat, leading to near the end of the burn that can momen hybridshaveejectingis chunk fuelaof cial space companies. “One problem design who somehas founded several commer California, and an Mojave, in expert Institute Studies Space in the reusable rocket anddo,” says GaryHudson, president of program] requirementscrew say you must be [commercial “Our catastrophe. can ignite its Chaser hybrid engines and escape countdown—Dream during occurs—even malfunction launch a If self-contained. be will Chaser Dream on rockets hybrid the engines, main its to fuel beast—feeding orange big tank—the external expendable an had the crew.” But unlike the shuttle, which didn’twe haveanyway reallyof saving thosefirst two minutes [on the shuttle], in happenedsomething “If way: this it theendtheirof trajectory.” Mango puts says. “They bothLindsey had to firesurvive,” all and the wayone to lose never rocketboosters helped lift it. “We could tle’sminutesfirsttwopad,solidtheoff Still to be resolved: whether Dream Dream whether resolved: be to Still D ryden center inCalifornia for f ). Above: Rex Walheim was D ream Chaser was - - -

LEFT: NASA/TOM TSCHIDA; RIGHT: NASA/DAVID C. BOWMAN

LEFT: NASA; RIGHT: GETTY able to always abort and get to a it ditched its external fuel tank, at which shuttle could never do: Atthe 70 milessomething high, is This tasks. other on Chaser will retain enough power to take Internationalthe SpaceStation, Dream engines. Inaddition toits activities with inlowEarth orbit with twofully fueled arrivewill Chaser Dream well, goes all with no failures,” Lindsey says. Assuming theAtlas V, “has104 [missions] rowain thatthe Dream Chaser’s launch vehicle, Center. Space Kennedy NASA’s at Facility” Landing and into a glide to land back at theWe Shuttlewould come off that, go over the top fire and run us up to roughly 20,000 feet. Lindsey, “the hybrid rocket motors wouldfrom the pad.” In this scenario, explains right that do to able is Chaser] [Dream site,” says Mango. “Because of its design, The scenario seems unlikely, given given unlikely, seems scenario The See videoat airspacemag.com/SNDC want togospacefor.” ing—the kinds of things thatthe micro-gravity environment and float people would [inside] to play around, to fully experiencefor several days. And there is a tourismton of vehicle.room It can carry seven people like to use the Dream Chaser asVoss.“We’d says an missions,” orbital future our loop,”saysMango. Tourism? the in “It’s oneof human a with done be should that“activitiesTelescope, Spaceany or for satellite repairs, servicing the Hubble used be also Muncy.could vehicle The PoliSpace’s says applications,” military thinking “I’m fuel, extra that all with cifically,Dream Chaser willaccomplish more than dead weight. As for what, spe point the main engines became nothing AT and fall, engineers will test the vehicle’s perhaps for thespace station (le An artist’s conception of I giveI thestick gentlea tugbackward to its 135 missions spanning three decades. culminatingshuttleprogram,withthe Atlantis “She’ll rollquickly, likeafighterjet.” talking to me through a headset.at a computerHe stationwarns, a few yards away, is knock it off axis. McMillan, who is sitting is hyper-responsive;spaceplane The the slightestfast. twitch approaching can knots at 12,000 feet, with Cape Canaveral pitched forward in a steep dive, doing switch300a andsuddenly Dream Chaser is seat, the control stick on my left. He flips upinthe flight simulator’s commander

At 3,500 feet I spot the where S IE RRA rolled stoptoa on July 21,2011,

N E VA D A , McMillan setsme D ream Chaser atop its Atlas V launcher andready to set o f ). Above: Newly arrived at f - - ight andrunway landingsystems. that wegetournationbackintoit.” I want to do everything in my U.S.power to issee out of the ithuman this way:spaceflight “I struggle business.with motivatorthe fact for me,”that saysthe Voss. Lindseyteam. puts Keeping humans in space “is aLindsey huge and the rest of the Dream Chaser That day can’t come too soon for Vossthefree andflight—will lead topiloted tests. and glidebacktotheairfieldatEdwards. will engage its autonomous20,000 feet,landing at which pointsystem the spacecraft release a pilotless Dream Chaser at nearly free flight. The plan is for the Skycrane to well,Dream Chaser will attempt its first another helicopter captive carry.tions affect theIfairframe. Andthey’ll alldo goes onance analysis, which looks at how vibra tires. Engineers will perform a ground res checktowslandingto gear, brakes,and Chaser was taken in May. now under way at Dryden, where Dream toughestnumerousthetests—some of DreamChaser willhaveprevailto over keen on piloting the spacecraft. But first, bet it would be Voss or Lindsey—both Chaser,are but for the inauguralDream fly mission,would who I’d decide to early epicanvoyage thehighonseas. It’s too likesovereigna mariner returning from EarthPlanet to spaceshipback a mand com to yearning deep the grasp to easy Chaser down.Now levelout, drop thegear, andease Dream Success at Dryden—particularly during Flight tests include high-speed runway simulator,the it’s on session aAfter

AU D ryden. This summer G that UST 2013 wasfun. A I R & SPAC & R E f

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