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X-38 readies for next flight
X-Press Editor X-38 team members are preparing for the next research flight of Vehicle 132 Sept. 10. After its release from the B-52 Mothership, the X-38 is scheduled to fly for 42 seconds from about 37,000 feet. The September research flight is one of two more flights set for 1999. The X-38 is a technology demonstrator for a Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) that is intended to serve as an emergency vehicle from the International Space Station. "We are starting to really roll with this thing. We need to get some flights in," Dryden X-38 Project Manager Bob Baron said. The September re-search flight focuses on the new flight control system de-signed by Honey-well Controls called a Multi Application Control Honeywell (MACH). MACH is intended to permit the control system designer to tune the vehicle’s flight performance quickly when the aerodynamics change. Also during the September flight, the B-52 is expected to expand its flight envelope to define the upper ceiling the aircraft can fly while maintaining a speed of 270 knots, or about 310 mph. The September flight builds on the successes of the July 9 flight, when several new drogue chute mechanisms were added to create a more stable transition from the drogue chute to the parafoil. The parafoil is a steerable parachute. The improvements reduced stresses on the drogue chute equipment and minimize damage to it, Baron said. The X-38 was released from 31,500 feet and flew for 31 seconds utilizing its aerodynamic shape prior to the deployment of the drogue chute and the parafoil. X-38 response to maneuvers also validated the Vehicle’s aerodynamics. An Air Force F-16 chasing the X-38 also provided wind data to help calibrate the X-38’s flush air data sensing system, a system that takes air pressure from the nose of the aircraft during flight to calculate information such as angle of attack, altitude and Mach number. Between the September test and one tentatively scheduled for Nov. 4, a test at the U.S. Army’s Proving Grounds in Yuma, Ariz., is expected to research a cutaway system to release the parafoil from the X-38 just before landing to make retrieval of the parafoil easier. By the November flight researchers intend to have the parafoil enhanced. One of the changes is the addition of vents in the bottom of the parafoil to help the chute fill more completely and smoothly with air during its initial deployment. As Vehicle 132 prepares for its September research flight, X-38 Vehicle 131 is scheduled for transport to Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. Vehicle 132 was modified at Scaled Composites in Mojave. Vehicle 131 is redesignated as Vehicle 131R. It now duplicates the most recent CRV shape. At Johnson, the aircraft will have systems installed and be instrumented by Dryden and Johnson technicians. After the work is complete, Vehicle 131R will be shipped back to Dryden for flight research. In July, a team of researchers from Langley Research Center and Johnson Space Center measured landing skid drag coefficients at Dryden. The drag coefficients are essential for flight simulator predictions of vehicle stability during landings with high crosswinds. X-38 research includes increasingly complex vehicles leading to the CRV, including Vehicle 201 which is planned to be dropped from a Space Shuttle on orbit back to Earth. Dryden has an important role in supporting flights of the X-38 vehicles, which are sponsored by Johnson Space Center. |
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Responsible NASA Official: John Childress For questions, contact: Dryden Web Group Page Curator:WD-Team Modified: August 18, 1999 |
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