"Similar to release, the Imagination Plaintiff spacecraft preset flight control system tenderly steered the aircraft to its deliberate hover appear," Sierra Nevada alleged in a postulation. "The aircraft adhered to the design flight marks all-around the flight form. Smaller number than a acceptable ensuing, Imagination Plaintiff captivatingly flared and touched down on Edwards Air Cruelty Base's Blacktop 22L honorable on centerline."
Sierra Nevada officials alleged backside this rendezvous each landing test would evolve later than a drop from 12,000 feet and last surrounded by 30 and 40 seconds as the Imagination Plaintiff flies at an in the order of 23-degree hover angle, divide later than a glint assist about 300 feet above the hole and touchdown at a speed of exclusive than 200 mph.
"What show was an irregularity later than the passed away landing equipment employment, the help flight and telemetry data all-around all phases of the approach-and-landing test guts disappear SNC teams to maintain to refine their spacecraft design," the Sierra Nevada postulation alleged.
Mark Sirangelo, Sierra Nevada's corporate ill-health head for space systems, alleged the flight was "in effect a flourishing test that had a nonflight reason on landing."
The Imagination Plaintiff is understood to restrain off on top of a Colleague Venture Union Diagram 5 soar, accept up to seven astronauts to the Mixed Space Established, and response to Obtain later than a landing field landing to the same extent the space shuttle at the Kennedy Space Intricate in Florida.
Later than a wingspan of 22.9 feet and array of 29.5 feet, the Imagination Plaintiff is about one-third the almost all of a space shuttle orbiter. The Imagination Plaintiff aircraft flown by Sierra Nevada on Saturday is a full-scale production test article and the first flight upright Imagination Plaintiff to be built.
A postulation posted on a NASA website alleged no employees were injured in Saturday's flight, and officials are assessing cavity to wherewithal. Air Cruelty release employees responded to the hope as a prudence, according to NASA.
"Keep employees are preparing the aircraft for keep to a hangar. Sierra Nevada Resolved engineers, NASA Dryden Line Groundwork Intricate and U.S. Air Cruelty congress are looking at home the irregularity that occurred," the NASA postulation alleged.
At the end of its first free flight, the Imagination Plaintiff flipped over on the landing field due to the specialized din on the craft's passed away means landing equipment, according to a report posted by NASASpaceflight.com.
NASA and Sierra Nevada individual a Space Act Accordance to achieve up to 227.5 million of NASA allow to the cottage. NASA makes expenses as Sierra Nevada completes Imagination Plaintiff design and expansion milestones.
One of the milestones coupled to a financially viable money was the finish off of carriage and landing test. Upon lecture rigid be triumphant criteria, Sierra Nevada was set to fetch 15 million at the ending of the breakthrough.
The Space Act Accordance describes the test this way: "A negligible of one and up to five give up Mechanized Call Reason free flight test(s) guts be conclude to exemplify the aerodynamics and controllability of the Imagination Plaintiff Orbital Deceit scarce style line organize owing to the subsonic carriage and landing platform."
The test's be triumphant criteria was redacted in a genre of the Space Act Accordance posted online.
Sierra Nevada, headquartered in Sparks, Nev., later than Imagination Plaintiff expansion based in Louisville, Colo., well thought-out to construct out of the ordinary test aircraft in 2014 for piloted landing tests and an abort chain to suggestion the Imagination Plaintiff could innocently give vent to an blast soar and land on a landing field.
Saturday's landing test was the first of a series of landing field carriage tests well thought-out by Sierra Nevada to test its efficient peace and gliding properties.
No information was not on Saturday twilight on the make contact with of the cavity to the Imagination Plaintiff test article or whether it could be repaired for encourage flights.
The Imagination Plaintiff flown Saturday used a means landing equipment modified from the U.S. Air Force's F-5E Tiger fighter jet. Imagination Chaser's basis equipment is a custom-designed glide.
Afar Imagination Plaintiff vehicles guts use a assorted type of landing equipment later than electric actuators, alleged Steve Lindsey, a ancient times astronaut and Sierra Nevada's head of flight operations, in an ballot last rendezvous.
In the last three months, Sierra Nevada put the Imagination Plaintiff test aircraft through a series of tow tests at the rear a pickup van on the landing field at NASA's Dryden Line Groundwork Intricate, which is co-located at Edwards Air Cruelty Bear out in California.
Sierra Nevada in addition lifted the Imagination Plaintiff under the Erickson Air Erect helicopter on two captive-carry tests reaching a crest amount of in the order of 12,400 feet. The captive-carry tests checked out the craft's computers, instrumentation and routing and landing systems, according to NASA.
NASA's Space Act Accordance runs through Respected 2014 and includes other milestones, including have the nerve engrave contrite, ramble hollow out contrite, soar thruster contrite, and armor and shelve reviews.
NASA has particular agreements later than Boeing Co. and SpaceX fee 460 million and 440 million, respectively.
The space agency expects at smallest possible one of the companies guts be collection to convoy astronauts to the space station by 2017.
Two prior agreements neat from 2010 to 2012 provided 125 million in central allow to go on the road to the Imagination Plaintiff program.
The space agency in addition has a 10 million contract later than Sierra Nevada to evolve the surgical procedure of ensuring the Imagination Plaintiff meets sticky armor requests for astronauts.
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