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Second X-43A and Modified Pegasus Booster Achieve Free Flight

Second X-43A and Modified Pegasus Booster Achieve Free Flight
The second X-43A hypersonic research aircraft and its modified Pegasus booster rocket accelerated after launch from NASA's B-52B launch aircraft over the Pacific Ocean on March 27, 2004.

EC04-0092-32
The second X-43A hypersonic research aircraft and its modified Pegasus booster rocket accelerated after launch from NASA’s B-52B launch aircraft over the Pacific Ocean on March 27, 2004. The mission originated from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, CA. Minutes later the X-43A separated from the Pegasus booster and accelerated to its intended speed of Mach 7.
In a combined research effort involving Dryden, Langley, and several industry partners, NASA demonstrated the value of its X-43A hypersonic research aircraft, as it became the first air-breathing, unpiloted, scramjet-powered plane to fly freely by itself. The March 27 flight, originating from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, began with the Agency’s B-52B launch aircraft carrying the X-43A out to the test range over the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. The X-43A was boosted up to its test altitude of about 95,000 feet, where it separated from its modified Pegasus booster and flew freely under its own power.
Two very significant aviation milestones occurred during this test flight: first, controlled accelerating flight at Mach 7 under scramjet power, and second, the successful stage separation at high dynamic pressure of two non-axisymmetric vehicles. To top it all off, the flight resulted in the setting of a new aeronautical speed record. The X-43A reached a speed of over Mach 7, or about 5,000 miles per hour faster than any known aircraft powered by an air-breathing engine has ever flown.March 27, 2004NASA Photo / Jim Ross› X-43A Project Description