CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A prototype spaceplane for a program that is considered shelved by NASA management nevertheless made a successful test flight Thursday over the high desert of California.
It was the highest, fastest and longest flight test so far for the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV), a stubby-winged lifting body designed to ferry home up to seven passengers fleeing from the International Space Station in an emergency.
Officials say the flight test proved the X-38 could handle some of the most critical conditions such a craft would experience when returning from space, while also testing improvements in the X-38's parachute deployment system, enhancements to its landing accuracy and changes to the shape of the vehicle.
"The X-38 tests involve innovative technologies that will be useful for many future spacecraft as well as a crew rescue vehicle," said CRV program manager John Muratore.
NASA put the CRV on the budget chopping block -- along with an American propulsion module and a U.S. dormitory -- in order to reign in ever-escalating costs of the space station program, which would need nearly $5 billion more than is planned to complete the orbiting complex as envisioned.
As a result of station cuts that include the CRV, the frontier outpost will be able to accommodate three-member crews only, instead of seven, a situation that NASA's international partners are not happy about. Should the ongoing discussions result in approval to proceed with the CRV, managers say they want to be ready to move ahead quickly."Although the production of the Crew Rescue Vehicle for the station is deferred, we are continuing to test and mature these technologies to reduce the technical and cost risk of a future CRV production program," Muratore said.
During a typical test, the X-38 freefalls for a short time to allow some maneuvers to be tested, then a drogue parachute is released to stabalize and slow the glider. A few moments late the main parafoil is released and deployed in stages until its surface area is more than one-and-a-half times that of of the wings of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.
Thursday's landing test -- the eighth large scale flight test for the program -- began with the release of the X-38 from the wing of NASA'S historic B-52 mothership at an altitude of 45,000 feet (13,720 meters), more than a mile (1.6 kilometers) higher than the previous tests.
Flying freely for almost a minute, the unmanned X-38 nearly reached the speed of sound, dropping about three miles (4.8 kilometers) before its drogue chute was deployed, slowing the CRV's speed from 500 mph (804 kph) to 60 mph (97 kph).
At that speed it was safe to deploy the main parafoil, which took place without incident.
In an X-38 flight test program first, NASA astronaut Ken Hamm remotely piloted the craft during a portion of the descent, testing from the ground the same cockpit displays and controls that are proposed for use in the real ship. At the same time, control software developed by the European Space Agency continued to be evaluated.
After a 12-minute gliding descent, the X-38 touched down at a speed of less than 40 mph (64 kph) on the clay surface of Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Thursday's test marked the third time the CRV used a full-sized parafoil, as well as the third time that the X-38 sported a rounded rear end, a shape suggested by European designers that will help make it possible to be launched into orbit atop an expendable launch vehicle.
advertisement
