NASA Facts

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Dryden Flight Research Center P.O. Box 273 Edwards, California 93523 Voice 661-258-3449 FAX 661-258-3566 pao@dfrc.nasa.gov FS-2000-01-060 DFRC

X-34 TECHNOLOGY TESTBED DEMONSTRATOR

PROJECT SUMMARY
NASAs Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA., the Agencys premier flight testing Center, is supporting a nationwide government-industry team in the X-34 Program one of a number of flight demonstration efforts aimed at increasing safety and reliability while reducing the cost of getting into space. The X-34 project is managed by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, and led by prime contractor Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, VA. Drydens support of X-34 and its sister reusable launch vehicle programsX33 and X-37involves flight and data testing as well as ground operations.

The unpiloted, winged X-34 vehicles are 58.3 feet long, have a 27.7-foot wingspan and stand 11.5 feet tall. It will be air-launched from Orbitals L-1011 airplane and will land autonomously on lakebeds or concrete runways using on-board computers. The first of three X-34 vehicles, a structural test vehicle designated A-1, began captive-carry flights June 1999. These captive-carry flights check for potentially hazardous flight conditions due to the modifications made to the L1011, which enable it to carry the X-34. When a commercial airplane like the L-1011 is altered, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must certify that the changes have not adversely affected the planes safe operation. Dryden technicians are assisting in upgrading the A-1 vehicle with structural modifications and integrating avionics, hydraulics, landing gear, and other hardware needed to turn it into a flight vehicle now known as A-1A for unpowered glide tests in New Mexico during the year 2000. Two more X-34 flight vehicles, designated A-2 and A-3, will have powered flights out of Dryden and NASAs Kennedy Space Center, FL. The X-34 vehicles will demonstrate key technologies leading to commercial development and operation of reusable launch vehicles. This new technology could dramatically increase safety and reliability in accessing space and reduce the cost of putting a pound of payload into space by a factor of 10, i.e., from todays $10,000 per pound to $1,000 per pound or less. During X-34 powered flights, the suborbital craft will reach speeds of up to Mach 8 and fly at altitudes of up to approximately 50 miles. Among the program objectives:

serve as a testbed for new technologies requiring a high-speed, high-altitude flight environment, demonstrate performance of new, lightweight composite materials, demonstrate new (re-entry) thermal protection systems, demonstrate new, low-cost avionics systems, demonstrate rapid turnaround/re-flight capability with minimum personnel and equipment, demonstrate subsonic flight and landing capabilities through inclement weather, demonstrate performance of the new FASTRAC engine, designed by Marshall Space Flight Center engineers to be simpler, cheaper, and needing less maintenance than current engines. Other NASA Centers playing key roles in supporting the X-34 program are the Kennedy Space Center, FL; Ames Research Center, CA; Langley Research Center, VA; Stennis Space Center, MS; Johnson Space Center, TX; and NASA White Sands Test Facility, NM. Edwards Air Force Base, CA; U.S. Armys White Sands Missile Range, NM; and Holloman Air Force Base, NM are providing the Department of Defense support. The Dryden Flight Research Center located on Edwards Air Force Base, Edwards, CA, is NASAs premier installation for aeronautical flight and suborbital research. Established at this Mojave Desert site in September 1946, a group of five aeronautical engineers began preparations for the X-1 supersonic research flights, producing the first aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound.