Spaceplane Passes NASA Testing Milestone in Preparation for Launch

The successful completion of this milestone confirms that Dream Chaser will accommodate various payloads.

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Sierra Space

Sierra Space, a commercial space company, said it has successfully completed and passed its Joint Test 10B milestone in collaboration with NASA on the Dream Chaser spaceplane.

The test demonstrated several capabilities of Dream Chaser, including its ability to power-on, air-cool and exchange data with multiple powered payloads inside its pressurized cabin. This is an important progression toward Dream Chaser’s planned mission to resupply the International Space Station (ISS).

The successful completion of this milestone confirms that Dream Chaser will accommodate various payloads. The Joint Test 10B test demonstrated that Sierra Space can provide power within a specific voltage range and maintain the necessary environmental requirements for payloads. It also ensured all vehicle and payload data are seen in both Sierra Space’s mission control room in Louisville, Colorado, and in the payload support control rooms at NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama.

During the Joint Test 10B, the test team successfully evaluated three key payloads, all of which are candidates for flight on DCC-1, the first official mission of Dream Chaser.

These payloads included:

  • Polar: A cryogenic preservation system developed by the University of Alabama at Birmingham and managed by NASA’s Cold Stowage Lab and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Polar is designed to preserve scientific samples aboard the ISS and other visiting spacecraft at temperatures ranging from -95°C to +10°C.
  • Powered Ascent Utility Locker (PAUL): A facility developed by Space Tango that holds two CubeLab experiments requiring power during ascent. These experiments often focus on biological research, such as cell and tissue cultures.
  • NASA’s Single Stowage Locker: A standard stowage system designed to carry experiments and other payloads in the Dream Chaser spaceplane.

The tests took place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida last month, with oversight from Sierra Space and NASA.

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