by KIJK Online
published on Saturday, November 11, 2023 at 6:08 PM •
3 min read
Construction of Tenacity is complete. This spacecraft from Sierra Space will transport goods to and from the ISS and can land on a runway upon return.
The International Space Station (ISS) – and its future successor – must be continuously supplied. There are currently several spacecraft available for this purpose, such as Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus and the Japanese Space Agency’s H-II Transfer Vehicle. Sometimes material also needs to be sent back to Earth, but most supply vessels are unable to do this. Space X’s Dragon is one of the few that can do this, and lands in the sea upon return. The American company Sierra Space is now launching Tenacity, a spaceship that can land on a runway like a kind of airplane upon return.
Spaceshuttle
Last week, Sierra Space announced that construction of Tenacity has been completed and the spaceplane will be shipped to NASA’s Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio for environmental testing in the coming weeks. Although Tenacity is currently the only spacecraft that can end its space journey on a runway, NASA’s space shuttles that were retired in 2011 were already able to do so. It is therefore not surprising that the appearance of the Dream Chaser is very similar to that of the space shuttles. In addition to extreme heat (over 1600 degrees), a spaceship that enters the atmosphere also has to deal with enormous acceleration and therefore high g-forces. Yet Tenacity can limit those forces to one and a half times gravity (1.5 g), which can prevent damage to vulnerable cargo. The wings play an important role in this; they create lift. In an aircraft, lift ensures that the aircraft stays in the air and in Tenacity it ensures that the aircraft slows down.
First mission is soon
Sierra Space has a contract with NASA to launch ISS resupply missions with Dream Chaser craft. And the first mission could start as early as April 2024. The launch will then take place from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket. Upon return, Tenacity will land at NASA’s Shuttle Landing Facility, where the space shuttles used to land. The spaceship can then be relaunched, as according to Sierra Space the Dream Chaser has a lifespan of at least fifteen missions. Autonomous resupply missions are just the beginning for the Dream Chaser aircraft. In the future, Sierra Space also wants to transport people with the craft.
Watch an animation of a spaceplane launch and landing below:
2023-11-11 17:08:03
#spaceship #land #airplane #return
