BIG PART OF X-33 ARRIVES IN PALMDALE; 5,500-POUND OXYGEN TANK AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT IN SKUNK WORKS PROJECT.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer The first major component of the X-33, a craft designed to test technologies for a new spacecraft, has been delivered to the Lockheed Martin For the former company, see . Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a leading multinational aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. Skunk skunk, name for several related New World mammals of the weasel family, characterized by their conspicuous black and white markings and use of a strong, highly offensive odor for defense. Works assembly site. The 26-foot-long, 5,500-pound aluminum oxygen tank was flown to Air Force Plant 42 on Tuesday afternoon from Lockheed Martin Michoud Space Systems in New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded by a bulbous bulbous /bul·bous/ (bul´bus) 1. bulbar. 2. shaped like, bearing, or arising from a bulb. bulbous having the form or nature of a bulb; bearing or arising from a bulb. Airbus Industrie A330-600st Beluga beluga (bəl  `gə) or white whale, small, toothed northern whale, Delphinapterus leucas. The beluga may reach a length of 19 ft (5. cargo aircraft. ``The arrival of the liquid oxygen tank marks the start of an ambitious assembly schedule that will see the X-33 vehicle roll out and begin flight tests within 18 months,'' said Jerry Rising, Skunk Works vice president for X-33/VentureStar. The delivery was the largest commercial charter flight ever commissioned in the United States and the first U.S. charter for the Beluga, which can carry more than 51 tons, according to Emery Worldwide's charter service, which arranged the flight. Forming much of the nose and forward third of the wedge-shape, pilotless X-33, the tank is designed to hold more than 181,000 pounds of liquid oxygen. The liquid oxygen will supply the oxidizer ox·i·diz·er n. A substance that oxidizes another substance; an oxidizing agent. Also called oxidant. needed to burn the vehicle's fuel, liquid hydrogen. When filled, the tank will account for about 65 percent of the X-33's weight at liftoff. The X-33 is being built by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works to test technologies the company hopes to use for a proposed spacecraft called VentureStar. The goal of VentureStar is to lower the cost of putting payloads into space from $10,000 a pound to less than $1,000 a pound. ``What's really exciting is that this tank is being delivered on schedule and under budget,'' Rising said. ``It is critical to continue to meet cost and schedule on X-33 and its follow-on VentureStar, if we are going to achieve our goal of dramatically reducing the cost of getting into space.'' The $1.1 billion X-33 is scheduled to be completed in late spring 1999. Lockheed Martin is scheduled to conduct up to 15 flights, beginning in July 1999, from Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. . If all goes well with the X-33 program, Lockheed Martin plans to begin production of VentureStar in 2002 and begin flight testing in 2004. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) An Airbus Industries Beluga cargo plane disgorges a 5,500-pound oxygen tank for the X-33 spacecraft at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin |
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