Aerospace Technology Development

X-34 Rolled Out for Testing

THE FIRST OF THREE X-34 VEHICLES expected to prove technologies that could revolutionize space travel, making it as spontaneous as today's air travel, was unveiled in late April at Dryden Flight Research Center. The X-34 is part of NASA's efforts to demonstrate that properly designed rocket vehicles can be easy and inexpensive to operate.

Considered a technology demonstrator, the gray, white and black single-engine rocket plane will begin proving new composite material structures, a new engine and a thermal protection system that could help a future spacecraft get to orbit more economically than current space vehicles. Eventually, an X-34 vehicle could greatly reduce the costs for getting to space and lead to new business opportunities. If the X-34 proves its groundbreaking technologies, NASA officials hope it will eliminate some of the risks for commercial space launch systems.

"By reducing the cost of launch services, space will be made more accessible to a wider group of commercial and government customers," said David W. Thompson, Orbital Science Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer. Orbital, which is based in Dulles, Virginia, is designing, developing and testing the vehicle. "With reduced launch costs, government budgets could support more frequent scientific or national security missions, and commercial users that provide services from satellites, such as voice and data communications or Earth imagery, could lower prices for their customers," Thompson said.

The navigation system for the X-34 is built by the same company contracted to build a navigation system for the X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator. This system is one example of X-34 components and testing that can help build confidence in components that will be used on the X-33 when it flies from Edwards Air Force Base in 2000, said Gary Payton, NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for the Office of Aero-Space Technology.

The remotely piloted aircraft will fly with onboard computers and is about 58 feet long, 27 feet wide and 11 feet tall. It will launch from an L-1011 airliner, from which it will obtain altitudes of up to 250,000 feet and travel up to Mach 8. The X-34 test flight will start when the aircraft releases the X-34 and then the X-34 engine will fire.

The first tests will be unpowered approach and landing tests to verify the aircraft's aerodynamic shape. The X-34 will be able to fly through inclement weather, land horizontally at a designated landing site and safely abort during flight. Two flights in 24 hours and a two-week turnaround time by a crew of less than two dozen are envisioned for the first planned 27 test flights.

In addition to proving new technologies, such as autonomous landing, the X-34 also will serve as a technology testbed for at least nine other experiments at the conclusion of its initial flight tests. The first X-34 is an aerodynamic aircraft that may later be used for parts for the other two aircraft. The second and third X-34s will be capable of Mach 8 speeds.

Six NASA centers are involved in the X-34 project. Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, worked on the thermal protection system. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, worked on the Fastrac engine and manages the X-34. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi tested the Fastrac engine. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, did wind tunnel testing, and Dryden completed vibration tests. Finally, Kennedy Space Center in Florida will demonstrate a 24-hour turnaround during flight tests.

For more information, contact Jay Levine at Dryden Flight Research Center.
Call: 661/258-3459, E-mail: jay.levine@dfrc.nasa.gov
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