X-43 test flight delayed
Posted: Tue, Nov 16, 2004, 7:54 AM ET (1254 GMT)
The third and final test flight of the X-43A unmanned hypersonic aircraft was delayed Monday because of a technical glitch. The X-43A was scheduled to launch at around 5 pm EST (2200 GMT), an hour after its B-52 carrier aircraft took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California. However, the B-52 never took off because of an instrumentation system problem with the X-43; while the problem was resolved, the preflight checklist could not be completed before the launch window closed at 7 pm EST (0000 GMT). Another launch attempt is tentatively planned for Tuesday afternoon. The X-32A is designed to fly at up to Mach 10 to test scramjet technologies. A X-43A test flight earlier this year reached Mach 7, while the first test flight failed in 2001 because of a problem with the Pegasus-derived booster that accelerates the X-43 after release from the B-52. A follow-on program to the X-43A, the X-43C, was cancelled by NASA earlier this year as the agency refocuses its technology development efforts on the exploration vision.
The third and final test flight of the X-43A unmanned hypersonic aircraft was delayed Monday because of a technical glitch. The X-43A was scheduled to launch at around 5 pm EST (2200 GMT), an hour after its B-52 carrier aircraft took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California. However, the B-52 never took off because of an instrumentation system problem with the X-43; while the problem was resolved, the preflight checklist could not be completed before the launch window closed at 7 pm EST (0000 GMT). Another launch attempt is tentatively planned for Tuesday afternoon. The X-32A is designed to fly at up to Mach 10 to test scramjet technologies. A X-43A test flight earlier this year reached Mach 7, while the first test flight failed in 2001 because of a problem with the Pegasus-derived booster that accelerates the X-43 after release from the B-52. A follow-on program to the X-43A, the X-43C, was cancelled by NASA earlier this year as the agency refocuses its technology development efforts on the exploration vision.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Starship explodes during preparations for static-fire test
Posted: Sun, Jun 22 6:52 AM ET (1052 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, June 25
US Space Command’s Gen. Whiting talks Golden Dome, EW and China’s space-based kill chain
Breaking Defense — 6:25 am ET (1025 GMT) Space partners eye secure future
Australian Government — 6:24 am ET (1024 GMT) How we protected the UK and space in May 2025
UK Space Agency — 6:23 am ET (1023 GMT) Space Development Agency accelerates launch of first experimental tactical SATCOM satellite
Defensescoop — 6:21 am ET (1021 GMT) Secretive Space RCO Plans to Launch First ‘Full-Up’ Satellites Soon
Air and Space Forces Magazine — 6:21 am ET (1021 GMT) |
