Tue, Jun 28, 2011
Sierra Nevada Space Systems Completes Two Major Milestones For
NASA Commercial Crew Program
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) CEO Fatih Ozmen announced Friday
that Sierra Nevada Space Systems has completed two significant
milestones as part of the Commercial Crew Development Round 2
(CCDev2) Program. SNC is building the Dream Chaser, a Space
Shuttle-like human spacecraft for NASA to provide astronaut
transport to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the
CCDev2 program, SNC will conduct multiple spacecraft hardware
milestones and other development activities over the next year,
culminating in a system-level Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and
preparation for atmospheric flight test of the Dream Chaser. As the
only company under contract to NASA for development of a
Shuttle-like spacecraft, SNC is positioned to quickly restore US
capability to transport humans to the ISS after the Space Shuttle
retires and to support other human spaceflight markets in low Earth
orbit.
Artist's Concept
Mark Sirangelo, head of SNC Space Systems, reported the results.
"The first milestone completed under the CCDev2 program was a
Systems Requirement Review (SRR), where SNC validated their
requirements based on NASA's draft Commercial Crew Program
Requirements. All the requirements were approved and will be used
to guide the design of the Dream Chaser to ensure that it meets the
pending NASA certification requirements. Our development program
completed its second milestone only two weeks after Milestone 1.
This was a review of the selection of the improved airfoil fin
shape to be used on the Dream Chaser which will improve the
handling qualities of the spacecraft as it flies in the atmosphere
on return from space to a gentle runway landing."
Jim Voss, Vice President of SNC's Space Exploration added,
"These important milestones set the stage for completing
significant work during the CCDev2 Program. The rapid development
enabled by our partnership with NASA will ensure that our Nation
retains its leadership in human spaceflight."
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