NASA picks Dream Chaser space plane for ISS supply missions

[bananas]

Source: Fox News

NASA has awarded private space companies SpaceX, Orbital ATK and Sierra Nevada Corporation contracts to supply the International Space Station from 2019 through 2024.

The deal adds Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser to the list of spacecraft flying cargo missions to the orbiting laboratory. Like NASA’s space shuttle, Dream Chaser is a reusable space plane.

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Speaking during a press conference Julie Robinson, chief scientist for NASA’s ISS Program, said that the runway landings offered by Dream Chaser will be valuable for fragile science experiments returning to Earth from the ISS. The soft landing, she explained “is a really nice capability to add to the suite of things that we do now.”

Under the terms of the contracts, each of the three companies selected will fly at least six missions to the ISS. “There's a minimum of six missions to the ISS from each of these partners,” explained Kirk Shireman, ISS Program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, adding that NASA is likely to buy more than 18 flights.

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Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/01/14/nasa-picks-dream-chaser-space-plane-for-iss-supply-missions.html

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, bananas.

[bananas]

2. NASA signals commitment to private space with $14 billion investment

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/01/nasa-signals-commitment-to-private-space-with-14-billion-investment/

NASA signals commitment to private space with $14 billion investment

Commercial cargo contracts will keep the Space Station provisioned through 2024.

by Eric Berger - Jan 15, 2016 1:57 am UTC

Today, NASA awarded a new round of contracts to supply the International Space Station with food, water, and scientific research from late 2019 through 2024.

The space agency both expanded the number of companies providing services from two to three, and more than doubled the potential value of awards to as much as $14 billion over about five years. “This is the next chapter,” said Ellen Ochoa, director of Johnson Space Center, which manages the Space Station program.

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The Dream Chaser offers the most new flexibility to NASA. Because it lands essentially like an airplane, the vehicle offers a less dynamic return to Earth than a capsule. Scientists said experiments such as protein crystals grown in space would likely survive such a return. While NASA said Dream Chaser would likely land in Florida, it has the capability to land on any runway that can accommodate a Boeing 737 jet. NASA would also be able to retrieve experiments from Dream Chaser within a few hours of landing.

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Thursday’s decision marks a comeback for Sierra Nevada, which entered the Dream Chaser into NASA’s 2014 competition to win “commercial crew” contracts to carry astronauts to the station. It lost to Boeing and SpaceX, and the company filed a protest after NASA announced its decision. Instead of quitting, the company persisted with its goal of returning a winged vehicle to NASA’s fleet.

“Within a few short years, the world will once again see a United States winged vehicle launch and return from space to a runway landing,” said Mark N. Sirangelo, corporate vice president of Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems, after Thursday’s announcement.

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[Cassiopeia]

4. A much better graphic.

[christx30]

8. Here's a nice one too:

[bananas]

3. Boeing and Lockheed Martin also submitted proposals

http://spacenews.com/orbital-sierra-nevada-spacex-win-nasa-commercial-cargo-contracts/

Orbital, Sierra Nevada, SpaceX Win NASA Commercial Cargo Contracts
by Jeff Foust — January 14, 2016

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At least five companies submitted CRS-2 proposals to NASA in December 2014. In addition to the three winners, Boeing and Lockheed Martin also offered to transport cargo to and from the ISS. NASA officials said they could not discuss the reasons why those companies lost until after it completed briefings with those companies and released the source selection statement.

Boeing proposed a version of its CST-100 Starliner vehicle it is developing for NASA’s commercial crew program. NASA notified Boeing in November the company was no longer being considered for a CRS-2 award, but did not give a reason at the time.

Lockheed Martin proposed a system where a robotic space tug called Jupiter would transport cargo modules dubbed Exoliners, placed into orbit on Atlas 5 launch vehicles, to and from the station. The company said Jupiter could also be used for other applications, such as satellite servicing.

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[Warren Stupidity]

5. Why is NASA supplying ISIS?

[PersonNumber503602]

9. hehe beat me.

[Lochloosa]

6. I read this as "ISIS supply mission"...

[FSogol]

7. When I hear, Sierra Nevada Chaser, I think of something else....