The eighth glide and landing test flight of the NASA X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) prototype was completed at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California last month.
The vehicle, designed as the forerunner of a lifeboat for the International Space Station (ISS) crew, was dropped by a Boeing B-52 from a height of 58,000ft (13,725m) to achieve the highest, fastest and longest of the eight test flights conducted to date. The CRV reached transonic speeds of about 435kts (805km/h) during a 4.83km (2.6nm) free glide lasting about 60s before the deployment of a parafoil wing.
The 12min glide to a landing at a speed of 64km/s was controlled remotely by an astronaut using proposed cockpit displays and controls and software designed for an actual flight from the ISS. Computer software controlling the parafoil was also tested.
A hybrid synthetic vision system in a simulated cockpit combined live pictures from the X-38 and computer-generated 3D topography of the landing site. The synthetic vision software, called Landform, runs on inexpensive laptops and will be used by astronauts piloting the windowless, operational CRV.
Source: Flight International
