X-43A Status Update: Captive Carry Rehearsal Flight Postponed

Posted on: Sep. 11th, 2004 || Source: spaceref.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

The captive carry flight of NASA's X-43A hypersonic research aircraft scheduled for Sept. 7 has been delayed due to hydraulic leakage on the B-52B launch airplane.

This captive carry flight is basically a dress rehearsal for the planned free flight later this fall that is targeted to reach a speed of up to Mach 10, or about 7,000 mph. The captive flight duplicates all operational functions of the planned Mach 10 flight and serves as a training exercise for staff, except that the X-43A and its modified Pegasus booster is not released from the launch aircraft.

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