NASA CRAFT TEST RUN IS SMOOTH SAIL UNMANNED X-43A ON TRACK.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer 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. - NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. is on track for a February flight of an ultra-high-speed unmanned research aircraft after conducting a successful dress rehearsal, agency officials said Tuesday. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites (see satellite, artificial), conducted a captive carry flight Monday in which the wedge-shape X-43A, mounted on a Pegasus winged space booster rocket, was carried aloft by a modified B-52. The captive carry flight simulated the X-43A's free-flight test, tentatively scheduled for Feb. 21. ``The X-43A had a successful captive carry flight,'' said Leslie Williams, spokeswoman for NASA Dryden Flight Research Center The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. . ``It did meet all of its objectives. There's very few issues for them to work out.'' The X-43A, mounted to a Pegasus space booster, was taken aloft by a modified B-52 for its captive carry flight at 3:21 p.m. Monday. The two- hour mission originated out of NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base but was conducted at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Noun 1. Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division - the principal agency of the United States Navy for research and development for air warfare and missile weapon systems NAWCWPNS Sea Range over the Pacific Ocean, off the Central California coast. ``The flight went very smoothly,'' said Paul Reukauf, Dryden's deputy X-43A project manager. ``Our only concern was potential turbulence at high altitudes, but as it turned out we didn't have any.'' The program is testing an ultra-high-speed, ultra-high-altitude jet engine called a scramjet scramjet: see jet propulsion. - supersonic combustion ramjet ramjet: see jet propulsion. ramjet Air-breathing jet engine that operates with no major moving parts. It relies on the craft's forward motion to draw in air and on a specially shaped intake passage to compress the air for combustion. - which could be used in future space launch vehicles and for high-speed military and civilian aircraft. Scramjets pull oxygen for combustion from the atmosphere rather than carry the extra weight of its own oxygen as a rocket does. By not having to carry oxygen, a spacecraft can save fuel weight and carry more equipment. For the free-flight test Feb. 21, the booster-mounted X-43A stack will be released over the ocean by the B-52. After a brief free fall, the Pegasus booster engine will ignite and push the unmanned craft to an altitude of 95,000 feet and a speed of Mach 7, roughly 4,900 mph. As the booster engine burns out, the craft will separate and fire its scramjet engine for about 10 seconds. The engine will then shut down and the craft will perform a set of preprogrammed maneuvers before crashing into the ocean. The X-43A will not be recovered. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com |
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