The X-38 prototype of the Crew Return Vehicle is suspended under its giant 7,500-square-foot parafoil during its eighth free flight on Thursday, December 13, 2001

The X-38 prototype of the Crew Return Vehicle for the International Space Station is suspended under its giant 7,500-square-foot parafoil during its eighth free flight on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001. A portion of the descent was flown by remote control by a NASA astronaut from a ground vehicle configured like the CRV's interior before the X-38 made an autonomous landing on Rogers Dry Lake.