Photo credit for the SNC Dream Chaser goes to NASA. <\/P><\/p>\n The Dream Chaser<\/A> is a reusable crewed suborbital and orbital spaceplane designed to carry up to seven people to and from low Earth orbit. This spaceplane launches vertically as you would expect with a spacecraft, but it can land horizontally on normal runways thanks to its lifting body.<\/P><\/p>\n Dream Chaser gets this ability from the HL-20<\/A>, a concept spaceplane corporate vice president of SNC Space Systems Mark Sirangelo found under a tarp in the corner of a NASA<\/A> hangar.<\/P><\/p>\n The idea to use an existing vehicle was a strategic move on Mark\u2019s part. At the time, he and the team were part of a company called SpaceDev<\/A> that SNC later acquired, and they didn\u2019t have much to work with in terms of time or money.<\/P><\/p>\n Since the HL-20 had nine years\u2019 worth of development put into it and more than 1,200 wind tunnel tests performed on the body design, it saved them a lot of legwork. But the HL-20 was still just a body.<\/P><\/p>\n This is where the Dream Team comes in. SNC recognized the importance of collaboration. \u201cWe take the track that we\u2019re not experts in everything,\u201d Mark says in a Desktop Engineering<\/A> article. So to bring the Dream Chaser to completion, SNC took experts from across industries.<\/P><\/p>\n Among those involved in the project are Lockheed Martin<\/A>, United Launch Alliance<\/A>, nine NASA<\/A> centers and U.S. universities respectively, and Siemens PLM Software<\/A>.<\/P><\/p>\n While a multitude of companies makes for better innovation and collaboration, it can also complicate an already complex work environment. Just imagine all the different systems and data they\u2019d be working with!<\/P><\/p>\n This is where Siemens PLM Software\u2019s role becomes evident. SNC uses NX CAE<\/A> for pre- and post-processing files with NX Nastran<\/A> as its solver, and Teamcenter<\/A> manages the CAE data. Because NX is open, it works with files created by any other system. This integrated approach fits with SNC\u2019s vision.<\/P><\/p>\n A big part of that vision is reducing costs while improving safety, says senior director and co-program manager John Curry. Stakes are high in space travel: People can die from minor errors. Thus, safety is especially important. Simulation-driven design<\/A> is the key to meeting these goals, John adds. <\/P><\/p>\n Simulation-driven design<\/A> lets SNC engineers make informed decisions about the safety of a design before costly prototypes are ever made.<\/P><\/p>\n NX also resulted in time savings of 20% for SNC, says John Roth, SNC Space Systems<\/A> vice president of Business Development. Time savings are important, because of the Dream Chaser\u2019s increased complexity over the original space shuttle due to its software.<\/P><\/p>\n The Dream Chaser is about more than just great software though. The key to its success, according to Mark, is great relationships and a common view.<\/P><\/p>\n<\/span><\/P>
\n