NASA boosts Alabama's chances of landing Dream Chaser spaceship in Huntsville
By Lee Roop
Huntsville, AL
NASA'S award of an International Space Station resupply contract to Sierra Nevada Corp. of Colorado today increases the chance the company's Dream Chaser spaceship will one day land in Alabama at the Huntsville International Airport, officials said.
"This is exciting news for NASA, Sierra Nevada, and Huntsville," Mayor Tommy Battle said. "It is also the next key step in our goal of certifying Huntsville International Airport as a landing site for Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser for federal and commercial missions."
"Our local team has been working hard to make our community one of the first landing sites for the Dream Chaser," Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong said. "Today's announcement shows that our work is paying off and we are one step closer to landing the space planes of tomorrow in the Rocket City."
It's a key step, officials said, but it is one step. In other words, don't start scouting prime viewing sites near the airport's runways yet.
"This announcement doesn't mean one of these Dream Chasers on this contract will land here," cautioned Lucia Cape, senior vice president of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County.
Others involved in the city's push to bring Dream Chaser to Alabama said, however, that it is possible a resupply flight could land in Huntsville, depending on where the research samples it was carrying from space needed to go.
Dream Chaser resembles a mini-space shuttle, and one of its selling points is the ability to land on an airport runway and return scientific samples to their researchers quickly.
Regardless, the announcement is "a critical piece to moving forward" with the plan to bring Dream Chaser here, Cape said. NASA's guarantee to Sierra Nevada of six supply station missions means a flow of federal money that will help get Dream Chaser completed and ready to service the station. "Once you can to that, you can do other things," Cape said.
Huntsville's long-term plan is to entice the aerospace business and research communities with the possibilities Dream Chaser offers and the expertise in managing space science available in the city. Huntsville's Marshall Space Flight Center manages all of the science on the station now, which gives it close relationships with scientists around the world.
"Our work is looking at additional missions," Cape said.
NASA announced station resupply contracts Thursday to SpaceX, Orbital ATK and Sierra Nevada. Each company is guaranteed six missions, and they will begin in 2019.
It wasn't immediately clear what the contract means financially to Sierra Nevada. All together, NASA has a $14 billion ceiling for all three contracts, but space agency officials said they don't expect to spend anywhere near that total. However, each contract is expected to be worth billions to the company that won it.
Kommentare