Drucella Andersen Headquarters, Washington, D.C. June 10, 1992 (Phone: 202/453-8613) RELEASE: 92-86 X-30 NATIONAL AERO-SPACE PLANE MOCKUP ROLLS OUT Decked out in striking red, white and blue colors, a 50-foot-long X-30 National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) mockup rolled out of its hanger today in ceremonies at Mississippi State University, Starkville. University students won the chance to build the one-third scale mockup in a nationwide competition sponsored by the NASP Joint Program Office, composed of NASA and DOD officials. NASP is a high-priority effort to create a flight research vehicle that will take off like an airplane, fly into Earth orbit and then return through the atmosphere for a runway landing. "NASA appreciates the hard work and dedication of the Mississippi State students," said Vincent L. Rausch, NASP Director at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. "The spirit and teamwork they showed in getting a quality X-30 mockup built on time reflects the same cooperation that we have among government, industry and universities in the program." Forty-five students in Mississippi State's engineering program worked for 5 months to construct the 5000-pound mockup at the university's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory. Throughout the project, they had access to NASP program officials who advised them on technical aspects of the X-30's design. Mississippi State aerospace engineering professor Dr. George Bennett directed the students' efforts. The subscale X-30 is made entirely of composite materials so that it can tolerate rain, hail and the other weather conditions that it may experience in outside displays. The spaceplane mockup will debut at the U.S. Air and Trade Show in Dayton, Ohio, June 16-21, 1992. Other stops scheduled in 1992 are the Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-In at Oshkosh, Wisc., July 31-Aug. 6 and the World Space Congress in Washington, D.C., Aug. 28-Sept. 5. It also will tour in 1993 and 1994. -end- Photos are available to the media by calling 202/453-8375. Color: 92-HC-360, -361, -362 B&W: 92-H-408, -409, -410