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A Private Space Shuttle Replacement
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Space shell: The Dream Chaser(TM)s carbon-composite frame, seen from the front right side, is undergoing stress tests in an earthquake-simulation lab at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The decals bear the names of companies involved with the project.Credit: Katherine BourzacThe Dream Chaser will go into orbit on the nose of a rocket, then land gently on airport runways.Once the space-shuttle program ends this year, the only way to get people into orbit and to the International Space Station will be to buy seats on Russia's three-person Soyuz capsules. So NASA, through its Commercial Crew Development program, has given $50 million in grants to companies developing new spacecraft capable of carrying people and supplies into orbit and to the space station.The recipient of the biggest chunk of this money was the Sierra Nevada Corporation, which received $20 million to develop the Dream Chaser. [Read the full article]
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