EC01-0079-4
As part of a combined systems test conducted by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, NASA’s NB-52B carrier aircraft rolled down a taxiway at Edwards Air Force Base with the X-43A hypersonic research aircraft and its modified Pegasus® booster rocket attached to a pylon under its right wing. The taxi test was one of the last major milestones in the Hyper-X research program before the first X-43A flight. The X-43A flights were the first actual flight tests of an aircraft powered by a revolutionary supersonic-combustion ramjet (“scramjet”) engine capable of operating at hypersonic speeds (above Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound). The 12-foot, unpiloted research vehicle was developed and built by MicroCraft Inc., Tullahoma, TN, under NASA contract. The booster was built by Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, VA. After being air-launched from NASA’s venerable NB-52 mothership, the booster accelerated the X-43A to test speed and altitude. The X-43A then separated from the rocket and flew a pre-programmed trajectory, conducting aerodynamic and propulsion experiments until it descended into the Pacific Ocean. Three research flights were planned, two at Mach 7 and one at Mach 10.March 15, 2001NASA Photo / Tom Tschida› X-43A Project Description