The World's Fastest Aircraft Flies AgainNASA'S DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER at Edwards, California, flew its fastest and highest flying airplane, the SR-71A, to evaluate the SR-71's performance, handling and flying qualities with a test fixture mounted atop the aft section of the aircraft. This test fixture was originally used for the Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE), supporting research for the X-33 program. The flight of the SR-71 "A" model took place on June 30, 1999, the first flight of this aircraft since October 29, 1998. The aircraft reached a maximum speed of Mach 2.25, about 1,450 mph, at 55,000 feet. Three more flights are scheduled in the next few months. "The long-anticipated prospect of getting the SR-71 aircraft back in the air is exhilarating," said Dryden's SR-71 Project Manager Steve Schmidt. "This phase of the flight research program has gotten off to a great start. The aircraft and project team performed flawlessly, which is further testament of the cooperative 'teamwork' that has been a sustaining hallmark of the SR-71 programs."
NASA's "B" model is used for proficiency training for pilots and the flight test engineers. Recently, the "B" model completed its planned 200-hour phase inspection and has been put into flyable storage. These two SR-71s have been on loan to NASA from the U.S. Air Force, which just transferred ownership to NASA. In addition to these two SR-71s, the Air Force turned over possession of its two other flyable SR-71s, which will complement the other two NASA planes in future flight research programs. These will provide unsurpassed flexibility as well as additional capabilities to perform multiple high-speed research experiments. The SR-71 can fly more than 2,200 mph (Mach 3 plus)—or three times the speed of sound—and at altitudes of more than 85,000 feet. Data from the SR-71's high-speed research program will be used to aid designers of future supersonic and hypersonic aircraft and propulsion systems, including a high-speed civil transport. SR-71 flights have also provided information on the presence of atmospheric particles at extremely high altitudes, where future hypersonic aircraft will be operating. As research platforms, the SR-71s carry out research and experiments in aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, thermal protection materials, high-speed and high-temperature instrumentation, atmospheric studies and sonic boom characteristics. The LASRE project was a small, half-span model of a lifting body positioned on the rear of the SR-71 aircraft, which operated like an "airborne wind tunnel." The SR-71 has also acted as a surrogate satellite for transmitters and receivers on the ground, assisting in the development of a commercial satellite-based, instant and wireless, personal communications network, called Iridium. Another project joined NASA and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in investigating the use of charged chlorine atoms to protect and rebuild the ozone layer. Ongoing research in high-speed, high-altitude flight continues to gain interest among the scientific community, industry and other government agencies. For more information, contact Leslie Mathews at Dryden Flight Research
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