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 Dryden Home > Collections > Photo Home > X-38 > Photo # EC00-0317-47 |
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X-38 vehicle #131R during landing on first free flight |
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| Photo Number: |
EC00-0317-47 |
| Photo Date: |
November 2, 2000 |
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| Formats: |
457x640 JPEG Image (109 KBytes)
914x1280 JPEG Image (548 KBytes)
2393x3350 JPEG Image (5,357 KBytes)
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| Description: |
The latest version of the X-38, V-131R, touches down on Rogers Dry Lake adjacent to NASAÕs Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, California, at the end of its first free flight under a giant parafoil on Nov. 2, 2000. The X-38 prototypes are intended to perfect technology for a planned Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) ÒlifeboatÓ to carry a crew to safety in the event of an emergency on the International Space Station. Free-flight tests of X-38 V-131R are evaluating upgraded avionics and control systems and the aerodynamics of the modified upper body, which is more representative of the final design of the CRV than the two earlier X-38 test craft, including a simulated hatch atop the body. The huge 7,500 square-foot parafoil will enable the CRV to land in the length of a football field after returning from space. The first three X-38Õs are air-launched from NASAÕs venerable NB-52B mother ship, while the last version,
V-201, will be carried into space by a Space Shuttle and make a fully autonomous re-entry and landing. |
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| NASA Photo by: |
Carla Thomas |
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| Keywords: |
X-38; Johnson Space Center; Langley Research Center; Dryden Flight Research Center; International Space Station; B-52; parafoil; CRV; Scaled Composites; Inc. |
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Dryden Home > Collections > Photo Home > X-38 > Photo # EC00-0317-47 |
