BOEING'S X-37 GETS ITS WINGS FOR TEST FLIGHTS COMPONENTS LAND IN PALMDALE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Boeing's X-37, a computer-guided experimental craft that will be tested both in the atmosphere and in space, hit a milestone with the delivery to Palmdale of the vehicle's composite wings.

With the arrival of the wings from Boeing's Huntington Beach plant, the X-37's major structural components are now in Palmdale. The craft's fuselage, built by Boeing in St. Louis, was delivered to Palmdale last fall.

``This is the type of significant milestone we get excited about,'' said Ron Prosser, vice president of Advanced Space & Communications for Boeing Phantom Works.

Intended to demonstrate ways for making space travel safer, more reliable and cheaper, the unmanned 27-foot-long craft will be used to test airframe, propulsion and operation technologies aimed at cutting the cost of space flight.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Boeing and the Air Force are jointly funding the program under a 1999 agreement for $173 million.

The wings are scheduled to be attached the fuselage in June, with completion of the X-37 targeted for late 2003. The craft is slated for its first flight in early 2004, when it will be dropped from a NASA B-52 and glide to a landing at Edwards Air Force Base.

The drop tests from the B-52 will examine the X-37's approach and landing qualities prior to conducting two space missions. The space missions would last up to 21 days before the X-37 would fly itself back to Earth.

At this point, there is no funding for the space flights, but NASA and Boeing are continuing discussions on the program.

Program officials are looking at two possibilities for carrying the X-37 into space for the tests - either aboard a space shuttle or aboard an expendable rocket.

``The completion of the wings finishes one of the many complex tasks in building a Reusable Launch Vehicle technology demonstrator,'' said Jeff Sexton, NASA's X-37 program manager at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. ``Advancing RLV technology from the research environment to the real world of manufacturing, assembly and flight testing comes with great challenges. The manufacture and assembly of the wings are no exception.''

The wings were produced using sophisticated, highly controlled machining and bonding processes. When attached to the X-37 fuselage, the wings will have a span of 15 feet, Boeing officials said.

The fuselage is constructed of Graphite Bismaleimide, a high temperature composite material that can handle temperatures higher than the current aluminum structure of the space shuttle.

The material will allow for a thinner and lighter thermal protection system, saving weight, Boeing officials said.

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This illustration shows the X-37 craft in a space shuttle cargo bay.