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20 minutes ago, _Augustus_ said:

Centaur really isn't designed for payloads like Dream Chaser and Starliner.

I know Dream Chaser carries, supposedly, five tons of payload, are there any hard figures on how much the craft masses? Is this a case where they've stripped Centaur from the Atlas V? 552 is a DEC with 5 SRBs lifting some 20 tons to LEO.

E: Or are you saying that DEC is going to be "clumsy" because of Dream Chaser?

Edited by regex
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1 hour ago, Bill Phil said:

Which version? A 552 has a centaur with two engines. Of course, they wouldn't launch it if it constitutes a major risk.

Just because Centaur CAN lift Dream Chaser and Starliner doesn't mean it's optimal. If you've noticed, the Starliner has had to undergo several aerodynamic changes because the Centaur is smaller than the booster and capsule.

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8 minutes ago, _Augustus_ said:

 

Just because Centaur CAN lift Dream Chaser and Starliner doesn't mean it's optimal. If you've noticed, the Starliner has had to undergo several aerodynamic changes because the Centaur is smaller than the booster and capsule.

It doesn't have to be optimal, so long as it can do it with a high degree of confidence and doesn't constitute a major risk. SLS having just four engines on the core isn't optimal, either, but they're doing it.

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On 7/20/2017 at 6:06 PM, DeltaDizzy said:

I thought it lost out to spacex.

I'd be somewhat surprised if spacex bid on that.  Presumably the latest Falcon-9 can lift almost anything an Atlas V can, but it would likely be expendable.  Falcon heavy could lift it, but it would be tricky to write the contract with a workable rocket available and a preferred vehicle in development.  The real kicker is that it is unlikely to fit in the fairing, and probably requires all kinds of engineering to deal with the aero issues of having a dreamchaser (and all of its aero characteristics) on top.

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49 minutes ago, tater said:

Dreamchaser has a gross mass of around 9,000 kg I think.

That makes sense for the original launch vehicle of an Atlas V 412 which was supposed to be human-rated. So the cargo version carries five tons on top of that within a 5.4m fairing with folded wings to ISS orbit... Seems fairly legit.

Now we need to see what crewed Dream Chaser launches on.

E: Ah, the 412 is also a DEC, seems Dream Chaser was always intended to launch on top of a two-engine Centaur.

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1 minute ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Who’s writing this drivel??  :huh:

I loved:

"In 2015, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket exploded a couple of minutes after lifting off from Cape Canaveral en route to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. No one was on board and no was injured."

You know, in case you confused it with all of those manned Falcon 9 launches.

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https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/11/in-depth-study-commercial-cargo-program-a-bargain-for-nasa/

Quote

In-depth study: Commercial cargo program a bargain for NASA

"It is arguable that the US Treasury has already made that initial investment back."

Resupply via SpaceX and OATK including all COTS investment has cost 2-3 times less than shuttle per delivered kg.

The paper as well:

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20170008895.pdf

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