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The "stack" containing the X-43A on the nose of an Orbital Sciences rocket climbs after air launch from the NASA B-52B. The X-43A then was air-launched, fired its engine and made history with a flight exceeding Mach 7.
NASA Photo / Jim Ross |
X-43A team preparations pay off
Crews worked throughout the week in 24-hour shifts to ensure that when the weather cleared on launch day, the X-43 vehicle stack would be fueled, checked and ready for flight.
During the week leading up to the March 27 launch, the night crew fueled the vehicles in winds that at times exceeded 60 mph.
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Dryden propulsion lead Tom Grindle, Dale McKill, Joe Kinn and Jake Vachon (at right) begin final preparation of the X-43A for its groundbreaking and record-breaking flight to Mach 7. X-43A team members worked around the clock to insure everything would be ready on flight day
NASA Photo / Tony Landis |
This X-Press photo essay pays tribute to the entire X-43A team and the sacrifices they made to guarantee the success of the X-43A's mission to redefine the cutting edge of hypersonics.
The successful flight marked the first time an airbreathing engine in an integrated system exceeded Mach 7 and the first time an aircraft separated from another at speeds exceeding Mach 5.
Members of the X-43A team are NASA Dryden, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., ATK GASL (formerly MicroCraft Inc.) of Tullahoma, Tenn., where both the vehicle and the engine were built, and Boeing Phantom Works, Huntington Beach, Calif., designers of the thermal protection and onboard systems. The booster is a modified Pegasus rocket built by Orbital Sciences Corp., Chandler, Ariz.
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