Government Shutdown Delays Major Private Space Plane Test

A key test flight of a new private space plane that aims to be a next-generation transportation vehicle for astronauts has become another casualty of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.

The new commercial space plane, called Dream Chaser, was slated to make a major free-flight test on Oct. 5 at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, located inside Edwards Air Force Base in California. But because the government shutdown has shuttered most of NASA, Dream Chaser's debut unmanned drop test is now on hold.

"Our first vehicle is primed to take its test," said Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president and head of Sierra Nevada Corporation's Space Systems based in Louisville, Colo. "Right now we're basically on final, waiting for clearance to go ahead." Read more...