Sierra Nevada Thread (Dream Chaser, plus!)

[darthgently]

I heart raising threads from the dead:

 

[AckSed]

Dream Chaser cargo module blasted with sound to simulate stresses of launch: https://www.sierraspace.com/press-releases/sierra-space-shooting-star-cargo-module-completes-acoustic-testing-at-nasas-kennedy-space-center/

[darthgently]

 

[AckSed]

The 'trunk' also being a berthing mechanism/docking port may also be a bit of future-proofing. Say Orbital Reef becomes a thing and they decide an expanded ring is more optimal. Redesign the trunk, a solid rocket booster extra and away you go.

[darthgently]

58 minutes ago, AckSed said:

The 'trunk' also being a berthing mechanism/docking port may also be a bit of future-proofing. Say Orbital Reef becomes a thing and they decide an expanded ring is more optimal. Redesign the trunk, a solid rocket booster extra and away you go.

Great thinking outside the box there.  It is a shame to put mass in orbit only to deorbit it to destruction shortly after.

 What if the DC and Dragon trunks had enough extra RCS and some code to slowly rendezvous and dock (or somehow more simply aggregate) together in orbit over time awaiting usefulness?  There would be no rush so it could be very efficient and they could simply rz with the nearest viable cluster of spare parts

 

[Nuke]

junkyard orbits!

[AckSed]

Sierra Space working on storing and dropping supplies from orbit for the Air Force: https://spacenews.com/the-air-force-is-exploring-the-potential-of-space-vehicles-to-rapidly-transport-critical-supplies-from-orbital-warehouses-back-to-earth/

[Nuke]

i dont know if using orbit as ammo dump is a good idea, orbit such an asset over a hostile country and they are probibly justified firing their asat weapons at it. you are better off with point to point rockets that are more unpredictable and harder to intercept.

[darthgently]

8 minutes ago, Nuke said:

i dont know if using orbit as ammo dump is a good idea, orbit such an asset over a hostile country and they are probibly justified firing their asat weapons at it. you are better off with point to point rockets that are more unpredictable and harder to intercept.

Good point.  Ammo isn’t the only thing people need though. MREs, medical supplies, spares etc also.

Point to point does seem more logical.  One wouldn’t have to wait for the depot orbit to cross close to the LZ for one thing.

Disaster relief might be a better use case than war.  But I suppose “war” is a subset of “disaster”, so…

Edited October 4, 2024 by darthgently

[AckSed]

More details of Sierra's activities, including an in-house mission control: https://spacenews.com/sierra-space-expands-spaceplane-fleet-with-in-house-mission-control/

Here's the sweet part for a tech-head like me, though:

Spoiler

That is the demonstrator version of their smallest habitat, with, if you zoom in, models of the possible 4-module station, stowed configuration inside the fairing, inflated configuration and the development paths and stowed configuration of the larger LIFE modules.

If I don't miss my guess, the display we can partially see on the lower left has it standing on the Moon. A hab is a hab, it seems.

Very exciting.

[darthgently]

31 minutes ago, AckSed said:

Very exciting

Very!  I hope they still have completing crew rating in their milestones.  I really wanted to see that in the news release, maybe next time

[AckSed]

Sierra Space makes non-sexy but useful prototype equipment for the ISS: https://www.universetoday.com/169229/a-trash-compactor-is-going-to-the-space-station/

[darthgently]

2 hours ago, AckSed said:

Sierra Space makes non-sexy but useful prototype equipment for the ISS: https://www.universetoday.com/169229/a-trash-compactor-is-going-to-the-space-station/

Would be interesting if the trash is compacted into a small subchamber that can be periodically exposed to vacuum to kill anything growing in it.  Though the heating during compaction probably does a good job of that.

 And yes, I’m aware that there are some very tiny things that survive vacuum reliably well

Edited November 17, 2024 by darthgently

[darthgently]

 

[AckSed]

To paraphrase a certain spaceman:

Spaceplane! Spaceplane! SPACEPLANE!

[DAL59]

I mean, they said 2024...