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NASA/Dryden Flight Research Center (NASA-DFRC)Ground crewmen help guide the alignment of the X-40A as the experimental craft is gently lowered to (12/9/2004)

Ground crewmen help guide the alignment of the X-40 technology demonstrator as the experimental craft is gently lowered to the ground by a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter following a captive-carry test flight at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The X-40 is an unpowered 82 percent scale version of the X-37, a Boeing-developed spaceplane designed to demonstrate various advanced technologies for development of future lower-cost access to space vehicles. The X-37 will be carried into space aboard a space shuttle and then released to perform various maneuvers and a controlled re-entry through the Earth's atmosphere to an airplane-style landing on a runway, controlled entirely by pre-programmed computer software. Following a series of captive-carry flights, the X-40 made several free flights from a launch altitude of about 15,000 feet above ground, gliding to a fully autonomous landing. The captive carry flights helped verify the X-40's navigation and control systems, rigging angles for its sling, and stability and control of the helicopter while carrying the X-40 on a tether.


This item is part of the collection: NASA Images

Mediatype: image
Creator: NASA/Dryden Flight Research Center (NASA-DFRC)
Date: 12/9/2004
Year: 2004
Insightuid: nasaNAS~2~2~1594~103007
Source: http://nix.ksc.nasa.gov/info?id=EC00-0362-20&orgid=7
What: Space Shuttle Orbiter
Where: Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC)
Where: California
Identifier: NIX-EC00-0362-20
Addeddate: 2009-09-23 18:16:04
Publicdate: 2009-09-23 18:36:52
Keywords: What -- Space Shuttle Orbiter; Where -- Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC); Where -- California

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