"Oh, it’s a possibility I might be flying, it’s a possibility you could be a passenger as well.""Oh, it’s a possibility I might be flying, it’s a possibility you could be a passenger as well."Space company Sierra Space's Dream Chaser space plane is like no other: its retractable wings and sleek Space Shuttle-like fuselage make it look like it was yanked straight out of a "Star Wars" movie.
"Oh, it’s a possibility I might be flying, it’s a possibility you could be a passenger as well," retired NASA astronaut and Sierra Space chief medical officer Tom Marshburn Dream Chaser Tenacity measures 30 feet long by 15 feet wide. Its unique lifting body design will allow it to transport cargo to and from low Earth orbit and to maintain the ability to land on a runway similar to
But before Tenacity, the first in Sierra Space's Dream Chaser fleet, can embark on its first-ever mission — a project that wasalmost 20 years ago — Sierra Space still has its work cut out for it. Now at the Kennedy Space Center, the spacecraft will still have to go through a litany of tests and eventually be attached to the launcher of the United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket, which will hoist it into space.
Dream Chaser is under contract with NASA to fly seven cargo missions to the ISS, a renewable alternative to SpaceX's Dragon cargo shuttle that can glide back through the atmosphere to land on any runwayThe unusual spacecraft is still being outfitted with heat tiles designed to protect it during its reentry through the Earth's atmosphere, and will need to be attached to its expendable cargo module, dubbed "Shooting Star.