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Drop Launch
A drop test is a method of testing the in-flight characteristics of prototype or experimental aircraft and spacecraft by raising the test vehicle to a specific altitude and then releasing it. Test flights involving powered aircraft, particularly rocket-powered aircraft, may be referred to as drop launches due to the launch of the aircraft's rockets after release from its carrier aircraft. In the case of unpowered aircraft, the test vehicle falls or glides after its release in an unpowered descent to a landing site. Drop tests may be used to verify the aerodynamic performance and flight dynamics of the test vehicle, to test its landing systems, or to evaluate survivability of a planned or crash landing. This allows the vehicle's designers to validate computer flight models, wind tunnel testing, or other theoretical design characteristics of an aircraft or spacecraft's design. High-altitude drop tests may be conducted by carrying the test vehicle aboard a mothership to a t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orion Drop Test On Feb 29
Orion may refer to: Common meanings * Orion (constellation), named after the mythical hunter * Orion (mythology), a hunter in Greek mythology Arts and media Fictional entities Characters and species * Orion (character), a DC Comics character * Orion (''Star Trek''), a sentient alien species * Orion, code name of Stephen J. Bartowski on the television show ''Chuck'' * Orion, in the fighting game ''Brawlhalla'' * Orions, a race in the '' Starfire'' board game and book series * Orion, a character from ''Power Rangers Super Megaforce'' * Captain Orion, in the Japanese series '' X-Bomber'' * Orion Pax, the former name of Optimus Prime. Orion Black, the father of Sirius Black and Regulus Black, in the Harry Potter Series Vessels * ''Orion'', a spaceplane in the film ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' * ''Orion'', a spaceship in '' Raumpatrouille Orion'' (''Space Patrol Orion'' in English), the first German science fiction television series * ''"Orion"''-class spaceship, on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gantry (rocketry)
A service structure is a permanent steel framework or tower erected on a rocket launch pad that allows assembly, servicing, and crew onboarding of the launch vehicle prior to liftoff. In NASA launches at the Kennedy Space Center, astronauts enter the vehicle through a type of service structure called an " umbilical tower". Immediately before ignition of the rocket's engines, all connections between the tower and the craft are severed, and the connecting bridges swing away to prevent damage to structure and vehicle. An elevator in the tower also allows maintenance crew to service the vehicle. Kennedy Space Center During the NASA Space Shuttle program, the structures at the Launch Complex 39 pads contained a two-piece access tower system, the Fixed Service Structure (FSS) and the Rotating Service Structure (RSS). The FSS permitted access to the Shuttle via a retractable arm and a "beanie cap" to capture vented liquid oxygen (LOX) from the external fuel tank. The RSS ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA X-38
The X-38 is an experimental re-entry vehicle designed by NASA to research a possible emergency crew return vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station (ISS). The 1995–2002 program also developed concepts for a crew return vehicle design that could be modified for other uses, such as a possible joint U.S. and international human spacecraft that could be launched on the French Ariane 5 booster. The program would eventually develop a total of three test prototype flight demonstrators for the proposed Crew Return Vehicle, each having incremental improvements on its predecessor. All three were wingless lifting body vehicles used in drop tests. The X-38 program was canceled in 2002 due to budget cuts. History With crew being taken to the ISS by space shuttle, the maximum crew size for the ISS would be dependent on crew rescue capacity. Since it is imperative that the crew members be able to return to Earth in case of an unexpected emergency, a Crew Return Vehicle able to h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Test Article (aerospace)
A test article or pathfinder is a version of a spacecraft or related vehicle or equipment, built as a platform to perform testing on particular portions of a spaceflight regime. Test articles are built to the specifications necessary to replicate particular conditions and behaviors that are to be validated. Test articles may be built for flight testing or for non-flight testing. For space agencies with extensive flight certification procedures, they may be built without the certification and quality control steps taken with the versions intended for flight. Test articles are more complete than a boilerplate. Overview Some test articles are theoretically able to be modified and upgraded to flight-ready status. Of the 136 Space Shuttle external fuel tanks produced, one was retained as a test article. The contractor producing the tanks stated that that tank could be refurbished for flight use if necessary. Test articles are often displayed in museums because of their accurac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA X-43
The NASA X-43 was an experimental unmanned hypersonic aircraft with multiple planned scale variations meant to test various aspects of hypersonic flight. It was part of the X-plane series and specifically of NASA's Hyper-X program developed in the late 1990s. It set several airspeed records for jet aircraft. The X-43 is the fastest jet-powered aircraft on record at approximately Mach 9.6.Thompson, Elvia, Keith Henry and Leslie Williams"Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: Guinness Recognizes NASA Scramjet." ''NASA.'' Retrieved: August 1, 2011. A winged booster rocket with the X-43 placed on top, called a "stack", was drop launched from a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. After the booster rocket (a modified first stage of the Pegasus rocket) brought the stack to the target speed and altitude, it was discarded, and the X-43 flew free using its own engine, a scramjet. The first plane in the series, the X-43A, was a single-use vehicle, of which three were built. The first X-43A was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boeing X-40
The Boeing X-40 Space Maneuver Vehicle is a test platform for the Boeing X-37 reusable spaceplane, built by Boeing Phantom Works. It sought to test the X-37's systems in order to "reduce the cost and risk of future reusable space launch vehicle system". History The Unmanned aerial vehicle, uncrewed X-40A was an 80%-90% subscale version of the Boeing X-37 reusable spaceplane, but lacking in propulsion or thermal protection systems. Boeing built the X-40A originally for the Air Force as part of that service’s Space Maneuver Vehicle program. The aircraft was built at Boeing Phantom Works at Seal Beach, California, in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory. After the first drop test in August 1998 the vehicle was transferred to NASA, which modified it. Between April 4 and May 19, 2001, the vehicle successfully conducted seven free flights. In 2001 it successfully demonstrated the Glider aircraft, glide capabilities of the X-37's fat-bodied, short-winged design and vali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbital Sciences X-34
The Orbital Sciences X-34 was intended to be a low-cost testbed for demonstrating "key technologies" that could be integrated into the Reusable Launch Vehicle program. It was intended to be an autonomous pilotless craft powered by a " Fastrac" liquid-propellant rocket engine, capable of reaching Mach 8 and performing 25 test flights per year. The X-34 began as a program for a suborbital reusable-rocket technology demonstrator. In early 2001, the first flight vehicle was near completion, but the program was ended due to budget concerns. Up to this point, the project had encompassed spending of just under $112 million: $85.7M from the original contract with designer Orbital Sciences, $16M from NASA and various government agencies for testing, and an additional $10M for Orbital Sciences to adapt its L-1011 carrier aircraft to accommodate the X-34. The program was officially canceled by NASA on March 31, 2001. The unpowered prototype had been used only for towing and captive fli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Marietta X-24A
The Martin Marietta X-24 is an American experimental aircraft developed from a joint United States Air Force–NASA program named PILOT (1963–1975). It was designed and built to test lifting body concepts, experimenting with the concept of unpowered reentry and landing, later used by the Space Shuttle. also available as a PDF file'. Originally built as the X-24A, the aircraft was later rebuilt as the X-24B. The X-24 was drop launched from a modified B-52 Stratofortress at high altitudes before igniting its rocket engine; after expending its rocket fuel, the pilot would glide the X-24 to an unpowered landing. Design and development The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now Armstrong Flight Research Center) in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California from 1963 to 1975. The lifting bodies were used to demonstrate the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land wingless vehicles design ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North American X-15
The North American X-15 is a Hypersonic speed, hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft which was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the List of X-planes, X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set speed and altitude records in the 1960s, crossing the Kármán line, edge of outer space and returning with valuable data used in aircraft and spacecraft design. The X-15's highest speed, , X-15 Flight 188, was achieved on 3October 1967, when William J. Knight flew at Mach number, Mach6.7 at an altitude of , or 19.34miles. This set the Flight airspeed record, official world record for the highest speed ever recorded by a crewed, powered aircraft, which remains unbroken. During the X-15 program, 12pilots flew a combined 199flights. Of these, 8pilots flew a combined 13flights which met the Air Force human spaceflight, spaceflight criterion by exceeding the altitude of , thus qualifying these pilots as bei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bell X-2
The Bell X-2 (nicknamed "Starbuster") was an X-plane research aircraft built to investigate flight characteristics in the Mach 2–3 range. The X-2 was a rocket-powered, swept-wing research aircraft developed jointly in 1945 by Bell Aircraft Corporation, the United States Army Air Forces and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to explore aerodynamic problems of supersonic flight and to expand the speed and altitude regimes obtained with the earlier X-1 series of research aircraft. Design and development The Bell X-2 was developed to provide a vehicle for researching flight characteristics at speeds and altitudes in excess of the capabilities of the Bell X-1 and D-558 II, while investigating aerodynamic heating problems in what was then called the "thermal thicket". The Bell X-2 had a prolonged development period due to the advances needed in aerodynamic design, control systems, materials that retained adequate mechanical properties at high temperature, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bell X-1
The Bell X-1 (Bell Model 44) is a rocket engine–powered aircraft, designated originally as the XS-1, and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics– U.S. Army Air Forces– U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by Bell Aircraft. Conceived during 1944 and designed and built in 1945, it achieved a speed of nearly in 1948. A derivative of this same design, the #X-1A, Bell X-1A, having greater fuel capacity and hence longer rocket burning time, exceeded in 1954. The X-1 aircraft #46-062, nicknamed ''Glamorous Glennis'' and flown by Chuck Yeager, was the first piloted airplane to exceed the speed of sound in level flight and was the first of the X-plane (aircraft), X-planes, a series of American experimental rocket planes (and non-rocket planes) designed for testing new technologies. Design and development Parallel development In 1942, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Aviation began a top secret project with Miles Aircraft to develop the world's first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of X-planes
The X-planes are a series of experimental United States aircraft and rockets, used to test and evaluate new technologies and aerodynamic concepts. They have an X designator within the US system of aircraft designations, which denotes the experimental research mission. Not all US experimental aircraft have been designated as X-planes; some received US Navy designations before 1962, while others have been known only by manufacturers' designations, non-'X'-series designations, or classified codenames. This list only includes the designated X-planes. History The X-planes concept officially came into being in 1944, as a joint programme involving the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the US Navy (USN) and the US Army Air Forces (USAAF), in order to pursue research into high-speed aircraft.Miller 1983, p.9. NACA later became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the USAAF became the United States Air Force (USAF). Other organizations such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
