S
spacy600
Guest
New Public Spaceship Design to be Unveiled<br />Author Leonard David<br /><br />Look for space entrepreneur, Jim Benson, to announce a fresh approach in the design of the “Dream Chaser†space tourism vehicle. The new suborbital design will be based on a melding of the NASA and Air Force X-2, X-15, and T-38 vehicles - rather than using the orbital NASA HL-20 lifting body craft.<br /><br />A five month-long study by SpaceDev and Benson Space Company has determined that this new design will provide “the first, safest and best astronaut-making spaceflights for the emerging space tourism market.†The announcement is slated to occur during the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference that gets underway this week in Dallas, Texas.<br /><br />This new design is deemed safer and more aerodynamic. It will also allow Benson Space Company to remain on schedule to make its initial commercial spaceflights in 2009.<br /><br />The new Dream Chaser spaceship design is lighter and sleeker, Benson will report, resulting in less drag and requiring less propulsion than the earlier design. The vehicle, powered by safe hybrid rocket motors, will launch vertically and glide to a landing at the launch site.<br /><br />A safer “carefree reentry†after achieving an altitude of at least 65 miles, Benson will report, will subject passengers to minimal G-forces, compared to other designs. It will also have many large, well-placed windows for ideal passenger views of the Earth and space during the suborbital trek.<br /><br /> http://www.livescience.com/blogs/2007/05/24/new-public-spaceship-design-to-be-unveiled/<br />