"SPACE BRAKES" are being tested soon at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility using a sounding rocket to loft an experiment to space. The IRVE-3 project is gaining engineering traction for a new inflatable re-entry system development with launch this summer.
If the test proves successful, Orbital Sciences Corporation and NASA Langley Research Center may cooperate on a mission to utilize the Cygnus spacecraft for a recoverable re-entry test. The Cygnus spacecraft successful use of "SPACE BRAKES" would open a NEW CAPABILITY for the space agency and the private sector beyond the successful Dragon re-entry.
Cygnus with CST-100 docked
Orbital has reviewed a variant of the Cygnus pressured cargo module capable of carrying three or four astronauts, along with a HUMAN-RATED VERSION OF THE ANTARES. The anticipated development costs could be as much as 2-billion.
Stay turned to the NASA Wallops Flight Facility sounding rocket test of "SPACE BRAKES" next month.
Origin: aquarius-project.blogspot.com
