|
Author
|
Topic: [Discuss] ESA's Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle
|
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 02-11-2015 07:57 AM
   
Please use this topic to discuss the suborbital flight of ESA's Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) to test advanced technologies and systems for future European reentry systems.  |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
|
posted 02-11-2015 07:57 AM
Well, the "intermediate" part of the name says it all I guess, obviously a miniature spaceplane (about 5m long) used as a re-entry testbed for future applications... Any chance ESA and NASA are still thinking to use such a "shuttle" as Crew Return Vehicle (remember X-38) for the International Space Station? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 02-11-2015 08:07 AM
No, the Soyuz and soon CST-100 and Dragon are the only crew return vehicles in use or planned for the space station.Rather, ESA says there are several potential IXV follow-on mission scenarios. In parallel, ESA is already studying PRIDE, an initiative aimed at defining a prototype for an operational reentry vehicle that would serve as an orbital platform to test in orbit technologies for multiple applications not only for future European Space Transportation, such as future reusable launchers stages, but also for Earth Observation, Robotic Exploration, Microgravity Experimentation, and Clean Space needs. PRIDE (Programme for Reusable In-orbit Demonstrator for Europe) was approved at the last ESA Ministerial Council in Naples, Italy. PRIDE spaceplane will be similar to but smaller and cheaper than the US's X-37B but, unlike the X-37B, would be managed under civil auspices. It would be launched by Europe's Vega light rocket, orbit robotically, operate in orbit, and land automatically on ground in a runway. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 02-11-2015 08:09 AM
Of possible interest, per ESA, there are a number of mementos onboard the IXV: - 30 ESA coins
- 50 mission patches (see above)
- 5 Omega (Skywalker X-33) watches
|
JBoe
Member Posts: 960
From: Churchton, MD
Registered: Oct 2012
|
posted 02-11-2015 08:09 PM
Robert, any idea on what ESA medallions were sent up?Are there any similarities to the IXV to the Hermes and what if any technology was leveraged from Hermes to the IXV? |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1306
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
|
posted 02-11-2015 10:08 PM
On the French news today (tv5monde) it showed the IXV landing in water via a parachute. |
OV3Discovery
Member Posts: 100
From:
Registered: Mar 2015
|
posted 03-15-2015 05:11 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
CST-100 and Dragon are the only crew return vehicles in use or planned for the space station.
I think Dream Chaser is another option for the crew transportation between ISS, and isn't Orion only for deep space missions?
|
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 03-15-2015 05:21 PM
Dream Chaser is no longer being considered for crewed missions to the space station. This week Sierra Nevada will be unveiling its proposal for Dream Chaser to be an unmanned cargo supply vehicle.And yes, Orion is not being considered for space station missions. |
OV3Discovery
Member Posts: 100
From:
Registered: Mar 2015
|
posted 03-15-2015 05:25 PM
Cost must have been a factor in relation to why Dream Chaser was ruled out. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 03-15-2015 05:33 PM
Cost was one of the considerations, but NASA ranked the Dream Chaser to be the least mature of the designs and it had the longest schedule for completing certification. (We have a topic about NASA's decision to pass on Dream Chaser.) |
advertisement