NASA schedules hypersonic X-43A, mach-10 flight press briefing

Elvia H. Thompson
Headquarters, Washington Oct. 28, 2004
(Phone: 202/358-1696)

Leslie Williams
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif.
(Phone: 661/276-3893)

MEDIA ADVISORY: M04-171

NASA SCHEDULES HYPERSONIC X-43A, MACH-10 FLIGHT PRESS
BRIEFING

A news media briefing for the final X-43A hypersonic-
research flight is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 5, 2004, at 1
p.m. EST. The event is at NASA's Dryden Flight Research
Center (DFRC), Edwards, Calif. It will be carried live on
NASA TV.

Vince Rausch, Hyper-X program manager at NASA's Langley
Research Center (LaRC), Hampton, Va., and Joel Sitz, X-43A
flight test project manager at Dryden, will discuss the goals
of the final research flight in the Hyper-X program. Dryden's
chief engineer for the third flight, Laurie Marshall, will
explain the challenges of preparing the research aircraft for
speeds of almost Mach 10. Representatives of the industry
team playing a major role in the program also will be
available to answer questions.

To participate, reporters must contact the DFRC public
affairs office at: 661/276-3449 for accreditation, no later
than 7 p.m. EST, Nov. 3. Flight schedule updates for news
media will be available at: 661/276-2564.

NASA TV is available on the Web and via satellite in the
continental U.S. on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, C-Band, at 72
degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz.
Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz.
In Alaska and Hawaii, NASA TV is available on AMC-7,
Transponder 18C, C-Band, at 137 degrees west longitude. The
frequency is 4060.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio
is monaural at 6.80 MHz.

The last of three X-43A research missions in NASA's Hyper-X
program is scheduled to fly no earlier than Nov. 8 over the
Navy Pacific Ocean test range, off the coast of Southern
California. The high-risk mission is intended to gather data
on the operation of the X-43A's revolutionary supersonic-
combustion ramjet (scramjet) engine, at a record speed of
almost 10 times the speed of sound.
-more-

-2-

As with the first two flights, the third X-43A will be
carried aloft by NASA's B-52B launch aircraft from DFRC. The
B-52B will release the combined X-43A and Pegasus booster
stack at 40,000 feet. The booster will accelerate the
experimental vehicle to nearly Mach 10, almost 7,000 mph, at
approximately 110,000 feet altitude. At booster burnout, the
2,800-pound, wedge-shaped X-43A will separate, and fly
briefly on a preprogrammed path, performing a set of tasks
and maneuvers before splashdown in the ocean.

Project officials consider this flight somewhat riskier than
the earlier flight that nearly reached Mach 7 last March.
Less wind-tunnel comparison data is available, and the
thermal heating on the vehicle will almost double. However,
the risk is mitigated by the experience of having already
flown a successful mission, and this flight will fly over a
large portion of the same trajectory as the last mission.

The X-43A/Hyper-X hypersonic research program is led by
NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and operated
jointly by NASA's LaRC and DFRC. The program aims to
demonstrate scramjet air-breathing engine technologies that
promise to increase payload capacity, or reduce vehicle size
for the same payload, for future hypersonic aircraft and
reusable space launch vehicles.

Status reports and information about the X-43A and NASA's
Hyper-X hypersonic research program are available on the
Internet at:

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/research/x43-main.html


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info