NASA B-52B Carries Pegasus Booster, X-43A Aircraft

The Pegasus booster rocket, carrying the X-43A hypersonic aircraft, is mounted beneath NASA’s B-52B wing. A dry run, known as a captive carry mission, was conducted to monitor the research hardware in flight for any challenges. The January 2004 X-43A flight was based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.