Jacques van Oene
September 23rd 04, 09:17 AM
NASA News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Dryden Flight Research Center
P.O. Box 273
Edwards, California 93523
Phone (661) 276-3449
FAX (661) 276-3566
__
Sept. 22, 2004
Alan Brown
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
(661) 276-2665
RELEASE 04-47
X-43A STATUS UPDATE: CAPTIVE CARRY REHEARSAL FLIGHT SET FOR SEPT. 27
The captive carry flight of NASA's X-43A hypersonic research aircraft
originally scheduled earlier this month has been reset for Sept. 27.
Should weather or other concerns force a postponement, the captive
carry mission could be flown the following day, Sept. 28.
This captive carry flight is a "dress rehearsal" for the planned free
flight later this fall that is targeted to reach a speed of up to
Mach 10, or about 7,000 mph. The captive flight duplicates all
operational functions of the planned Mach 10 flight and serves as a
training exercise for staff, except that the X-43A and its modified
Pegasus booster are not released from the launch aircraft and their
engines are not ignited.
Two leaky hydraulic packs on the B-52B mothership that forced the
captive carry mission to be aborted before takeoff on two successive
days in early September have been replaced.
The X-43A is powered by a revolutionary supersonic-combustion ramjet
- or "scramjet" - engine. If successful, the Mach 10 flight will
break all speed records for an aircraft powered by an air-breathing
engine.
It is part of the Hyper-X hypersonic research program led by NASA's
Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and operated jointly by
NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., and Dryden Flight
Research Center, Edwards, Calif. The program aims to demonstrate
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.
For further information about the X-43A and NASA's Hyper-X hypersonic
research program on the Internet, log on to:
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/research/x43-main.html
For more information about NASA aeronautics research on the Internet, visit:
http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/
- NASA -
--
---------------------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Dryden Flight Research Center
P.O. Box 273
Edwards, California 93523
Phone (661) 276-3449
FAX (661) 276-3566
__
Sept. 22, 2004
Alan Brown
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
(661) 276-2665
RELEASE 04-47
X-43A STATUS UPDATE: CAPTIVE CARRY REHEARSAL FLIGHT SET FOR SEPT. 27
The captive carry flight of NASA's X-43A hypersonic research aircraft
originally scheduled earlier this month has been reset for Sept. 27.
Should weather or other concerns force a postponement, the captive
carry mission could be flown the following day, Sept. 28.
This captive carry flight is a "dress rehearsal" for the planned free
flight later this fall that is targeted to reach a speed of up to
Mach 10, or about 7,000 mph. The captive flight duplicates all
operational functions of the planned Mach 10 flight and serves as a
training exercise for staff, except that the X-43A and its modified
Pegasus booster are not released from the launch aircraft and their
engines are not ignited.
Two leaky hydraulic packs on the B-52B mothership that forced the
captive carry mission to be aborted before takeoff on two successive
days in early September have been replaced.
The X-43A is powered by a revolutionary supersonic-combustion ramjet
- or "scramjet" - engine. If successful, the Mach 10 flight will
break all speed records for an aircraft powered by an air-breathing
engine.
It is part of the Hyper-X hypersonic research program led by NASA's
Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and operated jointly by
NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., and Dryden Flight
Research Center, Edwards, Calif. The program aims to demonstrate
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.
For further information about the X-43A and NASA's Hyper-X hypersonic
research program on the Internet, log on to:
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/research/x43-main.html
For more information about NASA aeronautics research on the Internet, visit:
http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/
- NASA -
--
---------------------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info