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NASA Advances X-38 Orbital Test
by Frank Sietzen "SpaceCast News Service"
Washington DC, August 25, 1997 - While a test version of the X-38 astronaut taxi undergoes air drop tests this fall at Edwards Air Force Base in California, NASA is beginning preparations for a year 2000 orbital flight test of a second prototype.

This week, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas announced plans to release a request to industry for the design and manufacture of approximately 600 silica-based thermal tiles for the orbital test craft. The new tiles will be made of a new advanced lightweight material and coated with a fibrous insulation. The tiles will cover the X-38 lifting body space test craft, vehicle no. 201, which will ride into orbit in three years in the payload bay of the space shuttle, then be released for a free flight in space and reentry to Earth unpiloted.

The X-38 is designed to be a lifeboat and ferry craft for the International Space Station Alpha. Should an emergency arise on the station, astronauts would use one of two X-38 craft docked there to cast off and make an emergency return to Earth. Each of the wingless craft is capable of carrying 4 to 8 astronauts, and would use parachutes to land on a runway following reentry. Since the astronauts won't need to steer the X-38, it could be used to return injured or disabled crewmembers that might be hurt in a station mishap. Designs are also in the planning stages to use X-38 spacecraft atop expendable rockets like the Atlas or French Ariane 5 in the event the space shuttle fleet were grounded. The X-38 vehicles could be used as interim shuttles, flying up from Earth to the station and then back, as the shuttles are planned to do. Twice in the 16 year history of the shuttle program the winged ships have been grounded; once following the 1986 Challenger accident, and once in late 1990 following a fuel leak in the orbiters.

This fall, another test version of the X-38 will be drop tested at Edwards Air Force Base in the California desert. These tests will determine if the stubby craft can be landed safely by parachute. The X-38 is based on the 1960's designs of the Air Force X-23/24A research aircraft. The craft were prototype candidates for the space shuttle before NASA chose a winged shape for the vehicle's design in 1971. Reuseable Launch Vehicle Archive at Spacer.Com

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