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HANGAR GROUP IN FRONT OF U.S. AIR FORCE THUNDERBIRD
Members unload a pallet from the back of a C-17 Globemaster
AIRPLANE MODEL, NASA Technology Images
An 89th Airlift Wing C-32 lands at Joint Base Andrews,
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the early morning hours at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, with space shuttle Discovery secured atop, taxies down the runway for a takeoff at 7 a.m. EDT. In the background is the midfield air traffic control tower. The aircraft, known as an SCA, is a Boeing 747 jet, originally manufactured for commercial use, which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. This SCA, designated NASA 905, is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. NASA 905 is scheduled to ferry Discovery to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17, after which the shuttle will be placed on display in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. For more information on the SCA, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-013-DFRC.html. For more information on shuttle transition and retirement activities, visit http://www.nasa.gov/transition. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson KSC-2012-2349
Untitled. Public domain image of NASA aircraft.
STS-130 - EOM - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
STS-133 - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
STS-132 - EOM - Public domain NASA photogrpaph
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X-40A on runway after Free Flight #2A.
X-38 Ship #2 in Free Flight after Release from B-52 Mothership
X-2 in flight after drop from B-50 mothership
X-38 Ship #2 in Free Flight. Public domain image of NASA aircraft.
X-38 Ship #2 in Free Flight after Release from B-52 Mothership
X-38 Ship #2 in Free Flight. Public domain image of NASA aircraft.
X-24A Powered Flight Drop from B-52
X-24A Powered Flight Drop from B-52
X-38 Ship #2 Mated to B-52 Mothership in Flight
X-40A on runway after Free Flight #2A.
Summary
Second free-flight of the X-40A at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, on Edwards AFB, Calif., was made on Apr. 12, 2001. The unpowered X-40A, an 85 percent scale risk reduction version of the proposed X-37, proved the capability of an autonomous flight control and landing system in a series of glide flights at Edwards. The April 12 flight introduced complex vehicle maneuvers during the landing sequence. The X-40A was released from an Army Chinook helicopter flying 15,050 feet overhead. Ultimately, the unpiloted X-37 is intended as an orbital testbed and technology demonstrator, capable of landing like an airplane and being quickly serviced for a follow-up mission. This X-40A free flight was made on the 20th anniversary of the first launch of the space shuttle.
NASA Identifier: NIX-EC01-0107-05