NASA Commercial Crew Development updates (renamed)

[DocM]

Here we go. What they're getting awards for - (spacecraft images bottom)

Boeing: CST-100 crew capsule

SpaceX: Dragon capsule launch escape/landing system

Sierra Nevada: Dream Chaser spaceplane

Blue Origin: New Shepard capsule

RELEASE: 11-102

NASA AWARDS NEXT SET OF COMMERCIAL CREW DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS

WASHINGTON -- NASA has awarded four Space Act Agreements in the second

round of the agency's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev2) effort.

Each company will receive between $22 million and $92.3 million to

advance commercial crew space transportation system concepts and

mature the design and development of elements of their systems, such

as launch vehicles and spacecraft.

The selectees for CCDev2 awards are:

-- Blue Origin, Kent, Wash., $22 million

-- Sierra Nevada Corporation, Louisville, Colo., $80 million

-- Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), Hawthorne, Calif., $75

million

-- The Boeing Company, Houston, $92.3 million

"We're committed to safely transporting U.S. astronauts on

American-made spacecraft and ending the outsourcing of this work to

foreign governments," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "These

agreements are significant milestones in NASA's plans to take

advantage of American ingenuity to get to low-Earth orbit, so we can

concentrate our resources on deep space exploration."

The goal of CCDev2 is to accelerate the availability of U.S.

commercial crew transportation capabilities and reduce the gap in

American human spaceflight capability. Through this activity, NASA

also may be able to spur economic growth as potential new space

markets are created.

Once developed, crew transportation capabilities could become

available to commercial and government customers.

"The next American-flagged vehicle to carry our astronauts into space

is going to be a U.S. commercial provider," said Ed Mango, NASA's

Commercial Crew Program manager. "The partnerships NASA is forming

with industry will support the development of multiple American

systems capable of providing future access to low-Earth orbit."

These awards are a continuation of NASA's CCDev initiatives, which

began in 2009 to stimulate efforts within U.S. industry to develop

and demonstrate human spaceflight capabilities. For more information

about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit:

Boeing CST-100 (partnered with Bigelow Aerospace)

SpaceX Dragon (already flying)

Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser (partnered with Northrop Grumman & Virgin Galactic)

Blue Origin New Shepard (somewhat black project)

[DocM]

Details -

Sierra Nevada:

system requirements review

canted airfoil fin selection

cockpit based flight simulator

vehicle avionics integration laboratory

system defniition review

flight control integration laboratory

ETA structure delivery

separation system test

preliminary design review for Dream Chaser

optional milestones: materials testing captive carry and ETA landing gear drop tests, ETA captive carry flight test, wind tunnel testing, dream chaser handling qualities evaluation, main RCS test, two hybrid rocket motor test firing, thrust vector control test, ETA captive carry flight test readiness review, ETA free flight test

Blue Origin:

* Space Vehicle Design: space vehicle system requirements review

* Pusher escape Risk Reduction: pusher escape ground firing, pusher escape pad escape test (optional milestones: pusher escape max-Q sled test calibration run, pusher escape mas-Q sled test egress run)

* RBS (reusable booster system) engine risk reduction: engine thrust chamber assembly test at Stennis (optional: engine pump cold gas drive test, engine pump hot gas drive test) [as an aside, apparently the RBF is a 100klbf restartable hydrolox engine)

Boeing:

launch abort engine fabrication & hot fire test demonstration

landing air bag drop demonstration #1

phase I wind tunnel tests

interim design review - 4

parachute drop tests demonstration

SM propellant tank development test

LV EDS/ASIF interface simulation test

Preliminary design review

SpaceX:

launch abort system propulsion conceptual design review

design status review 1 (for Falcon 9/Dragon crew transportation system)

LAS propulsion components PDR

crew accommodation concept prototype and in situ trial (internally-funded by SpaceX, NASA astronauts invited to try crew accomodations and give feedback)

DSR 2

crew accommodation concept delta-prototype and in-situ trial 2

LAS propulsion component test articles complete

LAS propulsion component initial test cycle

concept baseline review

[DocM]

Excerpts from the SpaceX Dragon data - looks like it flies in 2014. The 8 companies they're working with were redacted, so let the speculation begin ;)

[DocM]

Boeing CST-100 timeline - they fly in 2015, a year after Dragon but they started later.

[DocM]

Sierra Nevada hasn't provided a timeline graphic for Dream Chaser's timeline, but drop tests of the full size test bird, analogous to the Shuttle Enterprise, will perform drop-test flights in 2012 - likely using the Virgin Galactic White Knight Two serving as its mothership. A launch is possible atop an Atlas V in 2014.

Blue Origin is, as usual, cryptic other than the test flight will be on an Atlas V and later flights on their own reusable booster.

[DocM]

CCDev is now starting level 2 (CCDev-2) and is issuing bi-monthly reports. The most recent is here -

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/563409main_201106_Commercial_60day_Report_508.pdf

Highlights:

Boeing CST-100: Delta Systems Design Review completed, Full-scale landing airbag test this summer.

SpaceX Dragon: abort system design and supporting paper gets sent to NASA this month (July 2011). Cabin hardware (seats, controls, and enhanced life support) development in parallel.

SNC Dream Chaser: system requirements review, preliminary design review, airfoil selection

Blue Origin SV: vehicle design, pusher launch escape, and reusable booster.

[neoadorable]

wait wait have i got it all wrong? i thought Dream Chaser was SSTO this whole time!

[DocM]

No, it's TSTO - two stages.

The only SSTO spacecraft that's been proposed was the Lockheed Martin VentureStar spaceplane and it's X-33 testbed, both of which used the revolutionary Linear Aerospike engine. They were cancelled by NASA & Congress in 2001 during X-33's construction; it was too big a threat to the Space Shuttle establishment.

VentureStar was shown in the opening credits for Star Trek: Enterprise and was also referenced in Avatar.

Left to right: X-33, VentureStar and Space Shuttle

[neoadorable]

oh come on Doc, you know i love the VentureStar, it's basically my Valkyrie shuttle, and yes the name was used in the Avatar ISV...that was a nice touch i thought. is there a chance the VS will be resurrected now the shuttle is retired? will the aeospike engine magically work to spec now? please?

[DocM]

No bucks, no Buck Rogers. It would take billions for NASA to restart it, and with the development level of commercial crew and Falcon Heavy they'd be cheaper/kg of crew and cargo.

[DocM]

When who is scheduled to do what - subject to change, of course

2011:

Dragon C2 cargo - ISS approach (optional C3 - ISS docking)

2012:

Dragon C3 cargo - ISS docking (if blended C2/C3 isn't done)

Dream Chaser drop tests (from WhiteKnightTwo)

Cygnus C1 cargo first test flight - ISS approach

Falcon Heavy delivered to Vandenberg AFB SLC-4E

Dragon cargo to ISS goes operational - 12 flights

Cygnus cargo to ISS goes operational - 8 flights

2013:

Falcon Heavy first flight

Dream Chaser unmanned flight

2014:

CST100 unmanned flight

Dragon manned flight

Dream Chaser manned flight

2016:

NASA MPCV* unmaned flight (if NASA's SLS** booster is ready)

* Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

** Space Launch System ultra-heavy lift rocket

[neoadorable]

MPCV is what's supposed to take us to the moon and Mars, right? So why not just launch it to the moon 2016?

EDIT: i liked your Buck Rogers joke, but i intentionally avoided it...the Venture Star cancellation really saddens me...such a beautiful ship!

[DocM]

Orion/MPCV is what's left of the Constellation lunar program, an exercise in how NOT to do things.

Constellation was finally killed last year but its supporters keep trying to resurrect it, and MPCV is part of that in spite of Dragon being designed to be just as capable for beyond Earth orbit missions. Its launcher, SLS, is late and getting later as Constellation advocates try to resurrect Ares V as the design goal in spite of good reasons not to ($$$$$$)

[neoadorable]

why can't we have several platforms at the same time? i kinda understand the logic in that.

[DocM]

Stupidity & greed.

The correct way to do heavy lift is to have a competition like COTS for cargo and CCDev for crew; let SpaceX's Falcon X/XX concept etc. take on all comers. The problem is that this puts the old-paradigm high-cost systems like shuttle-derived (SLS/Ares V, Direct etc) at a cost disadvantage, which doesn't sit well with congressmen & senators who have shuttle-based NASA centers and suppliers in their states/districts.

[DocM]

NASA and United Launch Associates (ULA - a Lockheed/Boeing joint venture) have signed a Space Act Agreement for the human-rating of the Atlas V booster. This agreement is unfunded, but it will allow ULA to use NASA's labs to develop, simulate and test towards this end. ULA's dime.

Atlas V is to be the front line launcher for the SNC Dream Chaser, Blue Origin's Space Vehicle, and Boeing's CST-100.

The big question is if the $120M+ cost of Atlas V will be lowered enough to compete with Falcon 9's $59M - $69M price point. The current price is the same as a cross-fed Falcon Heavy, a much more powerful system set to start flying in 2013. Massive overkill for this purpose, but still....

Atlas V and CST-100

Atlas V and Dream Chaser

[neoadorable]

Doc, i demand you change your sig! it's offensive to my person!

[DocM]

:)

[neoadorable]

every time you feel hostile towards spaceplanes, just sing the theme song from Star Blazers to yourself, and picture the Argo/Yamato flying through space with that huge citadel on top. you'll get in the spirit and won't hate spaceplanes any more.

"we're off to outer space, we're leaving mother Earth, to save the human race..."

[DocM]

As I'v said, they have their uses including emergency medical and delicate experiment/materials return, but for now not the routine up/down stuff.

That said, I'm prepping a post that may make you happier. It's not near term but it is commercial and very real.

[neoadorable]

yes, it has made me happy, and thanks for the personal heads up :woot:

[DocM]

CCDev 60 day update #2

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/580957main_August%202011_CSD%2060%20Day%20Report_508.pdf

Notables:

The main potential delay for SpaceX's COTS-2/3 flight actually docking at ISS is not them but delays in software updates at ISS itself.

SpaceX will be testing at White Sands, presumably the Super Draco thrusters.

Blue Origin will be testing engines at Stennis.

SNC at Langley, KSC and JSC.

Boeing at Langley.

Aside-

SpaceX is testing the Super Draco's at White Sands because that center is set up to handle engine testing with toxic hypergolic fuels; nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine - the same as most other spacecraft. The plan is to eventually transition to the NOBFx monopropellant if its ignition speed is fast enough for use in launch abort systems.

NOBFx = Nitrous Oxide Fuel Blend x, a FireStar Technologies propitiatory mix of nitrous oxide with a fuel and blending agents in various proportions (the "x") according to the mission. By storing both oxidizer and fuel in a stabilized mix it simplifies the plumbing considerably and it's not anywhere near as toxic as hypergolics. It gets tested at ISS in 2012,

http://www.firestar-engineering.com/index.html

NOFBx advantages -

• constituents are widely available from chemical suppliers, inexpensive and safe to handle.
  can be transported and handled without undue precautions or hazards.
  effluents are non-toxic and produces no accumulated deposits or contamination.
  propulsion system has high Isp (320-340 s) ? similar to the most common bi-propellant.
  has far better lift capability than the current workhorse monopropellant, hydrazine.
  is tolerant to a wide thermal range; storable at room temperature on the ground and is Space-storable.
  [is projected to] lower cost compared to existing propulsion systems of comparable performance.
  is monopropellant, which significantly reduces the need for auxiliary hardware, saving cost, volume, and mass for launch systems.
  utilizes cool running thrusters that dramatically reduce thermal design challenges.
  burns in liquid, gas, and two-phase flow.
  does not have the materials compatibility constraints of traditional hypergolic systems.

[neoadorable]

thanks for the update again Doc, it's great that there's so much activity planned!

[DocM]

Boeing will be using one of the old Shuttle processing facilities to prep & refurbish their CST-100 CCDev entry -

Link....

Boeing signs lease for NASA's space shuttle hangar

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. ? The Boeing Co. plans to build space taxis at a mothballed space shuttle processing hangar at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in central Florida.

On Monday, NASA officials and company executives confirmed that Boeing has reached an agreement with Space Florida, a state-backed agency working to expand space-related businesses in Florida, to lease Orbiter Processing Facility 3 at the center.

Boeing will also place the headquarters of its commercial crew operation in Florida, said John Mulholland, vice president and program manager for the company's effort.

"We will launch from right here, on Florida's Space Coast," Mullholland said.

The agreement was hailed by state and federal officials during a news conference inside the Orbiter Processing Facility. "Ladies and gentlemen, the dream is alive," said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said the agreement would give a "major boost" to the space agency's commercialization efforts. She noted that Boeing and Space Florida were already sprucing up the shuttle's old hangar.

"I love what you've done to the place so far," she joked.

Kennedy Space Center is drafting a master plan for a revamped spaceport that, in addition to supporting future NASA spacecraft, will host commercial, military and international customers.

Boeing is one of four companies NASA is sponsoring to develop spaceships that can ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations orbiting 240 miles (385 kilometers) above Earth.

With the retirement of NASA's space shuttles this summer, the United States is currently dependent on Russia to fly crews to the orbital outpost, at a cost of about $350 million per year.

NASA hopes to be able to buy rides from U.S. firms before the end of 2016.

Boeing's proposed space taxi is a seven-seat capsule called the CST-100, which would launch on an Atlas 5 rocket.

The company also has an agreement to provide rides for clients of Bigelow Aerospace, which is developing privately-owned inflatable space habitats for commercial and government lease.

NASA has spent $388 million to bolster the development of passenger spaceships. Boeing won $18 million in the program's first round of financing and $92.3 million in the second phase, which is currently under way.

The U.S. space agency this year added $20.6 million in options to Boeing's agreement if the company can complete additional milestones in the CST-100 development.

The Obama administration is requesting $850 million for the program for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Bills pending in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate would cut that to $312 million and $500 million, respectively.

OPF-3

[DocM]

Q1 2012 Commercial Crew Development milestones -

Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) Dream Chaser

- Engineering Test Article (ETA) Structure Delivery

- Captive Carry Interface & ETA Landing Gear Drop Tests (read: attachment for the Virgin WhiteKnightTwo mothership)

- Separation System Test

- ETA Captive Carry Flight Test Readiness Review

Boeing CST-100

- Launch Vehicle Emergency Detection System/Avionics System Integration Facility Interface Simulation Test Phase 2

- Launch Abort Engine (LAE) Fabrication and Hot Fire Test Demo

SpaceX Dragon

- Crew Accommodation Concept Prototype and In-Situ Trial 1 (read: seats, control panel layouts & controls)

- Crew Accommodation Concept Delta-Prototype and In-Situ Trial 2

(launch abort/DragonRider test fire in Q2)

Blue Origin SV

- Pusher Escape Ground Firing (read: launch abort system)

- Pusher Escape Test Vehicle #1 Shipment

United Launch Alliance (ULA) human-rated Atlas V launcher

- No milestone in Q1

Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) Liberty launcher (unfunded)

- Launch System Initial System Design (ISD)

- Technical Interchange Meeting 2

- Program Status Review (PSR)

Excalibur Almaz Incorporated (EAI) (unfunded)

- System Requirements Review

- Launch Vehicle Compatibility Review