When Did SpaceDev Add this Page to Their Website?

[Boris_Badenov]

SpaceDev Advanced Systems <br /><br />Nice graphics. I'd really like to see the Dream Chaser fly. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#993300"><span class="body"><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><div align="center">. </div><div align="center">Never roll in the mud with a pig. You'll both get dirty & the pig likes it.</div></font></span></font> </div>

 

[thereiwas]

How does Dream Chaser dock with anything? It isn't obvious from the pictures.

 

[docm]

Pretty much the same as the HL-20; the docking port is at the rear between the engine bays. A tunnel runs forward from there to the crew/cargo area. <br /><br />Imagry;<br /><br />HL-20 docked @ ISS<br /><br />HL-20 wireframe<br /><br />DC tunnel<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[richalex]

I'm wondering what kind of heat shield they are using? One of the big expenses of the space shuttle (and the reason NASA is abandoning the flying wing design for its next generation spacecraft) is the expensive maintenance of the thermal tiles, a cost necessitated by the complex curvatures of the shuttle body. Dream Chaser also has complex curved leading surfaces. That implies that it would have the same big expensive maintenance issues as the shuttle.

 

[docm]

IIRC they were working with NASA Ames on a SIRCA TPS. SIRCA can be machined to custom shapes then applied directly to the spacecraft. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>