The Californian desert rushes up in front of me. I can see the runway at Edwards Air Force Base emerging clearly from the hills, and I try to keep the nose of my spacecraft pointed straight down the centre. I am flying the spaceplane back from a stint at the International Space Station (ISS), and am keenly aware of my delicate cargo 鈥� and the craft鈥檚 past failures.
Well, almost. In reality, I鈥檓 trying out the flight simulator for the Sierra Nevada Corporation鈥檚 spaceplane at in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I鈥檓 seated in front of three computer monitors, which show my view out of the cockpit, and rear and side views of the spacecraft as it descends. To go easy on me, the Draper crew starts the simulation after the Dream Chaser has already entered Earth鈥檚 atmosphere and headed down towards the ground, so all I have to do is aim it straight at the runway.
I get some more help from the computer: the cockpit screen has a red and a green triangle, one showing where I鈥檓 aiming and the other where I should aim. All I have to do is keep them lined up. It feels a lot like playing the world鈥檚 calmest video game 鈥� and that鈥檚 the point. Dream Chaser is designed to be smooth, comfy and easy to fly.
Advertisement
鈥淚f you can survive a rollercoaster, you can survive a flight on this thing,鈥� says , Draper鈥檚 director of space systems. 鈥淭his could be the path where we transition from space travel being reserved for a few to something that is more common.鈥�
Nicely packed
Dream Chaser is quarter the size of NASA鈥檚 former space shuttle, with folding wings that will allow it to be squished down for launch inside protective fairings on top of a wide variety of rockets. It is designed to land as gently as an aeroplane at commercial airports, and will be able to return from the ISS in just 3 to 6 hours 鈥� good features for carrying delicate experiments or injured astronauts.
The spacecraft also uses non-toxic propellant, rather than the noxious hydrazine used by the shuttle. That means people can approach the vehicle and unload its most time-sensitive cargo after it lands without having to wear protective gear. And it鈥檚 reusable: it should be good to fly again within 30 days.
The first version won鈥檛 carry astronauts, though. It will be fully automated, guiding itself to the ISS and back to the ground all on its own. That鈥檚 why Draper is involved: researchers here built the guidance and navigation systems for the Apollo missions to the moon and the space shuttle, and know what it takes to do this.
Sierra Nevada switched to working on an automated version of the craft in part because it lost out on a commercial crew contract with NASA in 2014, with the job instead going to competitors SpaceX and Boeing. Earlier this year, the company was chosen for a different contract: hauling cargo and trash to and from the ISS. That sort of space trucking doesn鈥檛 need human help.
Still, they hope astronauts will fly the Dream Chaser some day. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at making sure that we have something we can go back and have a human fly,鈥� Tuohy says. 鈥淐omputers are better than humans at executing things according to plan. But if something unforeseen happens, sometimes a human is best.鈥�
Flight test
So that鈥檚 why I鈥檓 here testing out the flight simulator as if I were a real pilot. Despite all the advantages of Dream Chaser, it has had some setbacks. I wasn鈥檛 kidding about past failures being on my mind as I tried to land: the first test flight in 2013 ended in an uncontrolled skid when part of its landing gear failed to deploy.
I鈥檓 hoping to do better, but it鈥檚 harder than it looks. The throttle responds more slowly than I expect it to, and the little guiding triangle seems to dance away from me. But with a light touch and small moves, I bring the wheels down to the runway and hit the brakes.
鈥淭hat is a comfortable landing! Way to go!鈥� simulation engineer Alan Campbell congratulates me.
I leave feeling fairly convinced that this space truck could actually make it easier for ordinary people to fly to and from space. But I鈥檓 worried about its prospects. The next test flight is planned for December this year, and the first of six uncrewed Dream Chaser missions to the ISS isn鈥檛 scheduled until 2019. The ISS itself only has funds guaranteed until the end of 2024. By the time this plane is ready for a crew, where will they go?
There are several possibilities, including an inflatable space hotel or a Chinese-run space station. Tuohy doesn鈥檛 seem worried. 鈥淚 bet you there will be somewhere else to go by the time the ISS comes down,鈥� he says.
