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Sky high successes are part of the
rich tradition of the Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center,
situated at Edwards, California.
Projects at Dryden over the last 50 years have led to major
advancements in the design and capabilities of many civilian
and military aircraft. Dryden engineers played a vital role in
breaking the "sound barrier" with the X-1 aircraft
in 1947, a historical first in aeronautics. Just as in the past,
this NASA research center is flying the newest breed of vehicles
today, built to break new ground while flying over clear desert
skies.
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Centurion is a remotely piloted prototype
of a solar-powered airplane that can fly to high altitude, remaining
aloft for extended periods. High above Earth, the NASA-sponsored
research plane will carry science equipment to perform upper-atmosphere
measurements.
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Among a roster of current projects, is Dryden's Advanced Control
Technology for Integrated Vehicles (ACTIVE) program. Outstanding
flying qualities of a highly modified F-15 aircraft have been
achieved when thrust vectoring of engine exhaust is integrated
into the flight control system. The same aircraft also recently
served as a test bed to evaluate a new neural network-based intelligent
flight control software, designed to allow a pilot to safely
control a damaged aircraft. Additional research activities at
Dryden include the F-18 Active Aerolastic Wing that improves
maneuverability and aircraft performance, and management of flight
tests of Russia's Tu-144LL aircraft, a cooperative venture between
the United States and Russia in high-speed research.
NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology
(ERAST) program at Dryden seeks to demonstrate that an aircraft
can fly at the edge of the atmosphere, at altitudes up to 100,000
feet, for hours on end. Centurion is a prototype of an innovative,
remotely piloted, solar-powered airplane being developed under
the ERAST effort. At this ultra-high altitude, Centurion--also
known as the "Helios prototype"--can serve as an upper-atmosphere
research vehicle, hauling sensors and instruments to record important
data for scientists some 19 miles below. Flight endurance of
the Centurion is about 14 to 15 hours.
In the summer of 1998, the Pathfinder-Plus--a Centurion predecessor--set
an unofficial world altitude record for solar-powered aircraft.
At 80,201 feet, the altitude was also the highest ever attained
by a propeller-driven aircraft.
Pathfinder-Plus and the Centurion are providing a step-by-step
approach to ERAST's ultimate "eternal airplane." This
vehicle, named the Helios, will attempt to fly early next century
for up to four months at a time at altitudes from 50,000 to 70,000
feet, while hauling a hefty 200-pound payload of science gear.
NASA's two ER-2 Airborne Science aircraft are based at Dryden.
These flying laboratories collect information about our surroundings,
including Earth resources, celestial observations, atmospheric
chemistry and dynamics, and oceanic processes. ER-2 aircraft
are also used for electronic sensor research and development,
satellite calibration, and satellite data validation. These planes
have supported ozone depletion study campaigns over Antarctica,
the Arctic, Chile, and other areas to gauge ozone loss. The ER-2
has played a significant role in charting the extent of fires
that raged through Yellowstone National Park.
Once an astronaut is in orbit and there is a problem, how
can he or she get home in a hurry? Answering that question is
crucial in the upcoming era of the International Space Station.
Dryden engineers and NASA's Johnson Space Center have begun flight-testing
the X-38. This prototype spacecraft could become the first new
human spacecraft built in the past two decades that travels to
and from orbit. The vehicle is being developed at a fraction
of the cost of past human space vehicles. The goal is to take
a "cheaper, better, faster" approach to spacecraft
construction, taking advantage of available equipment and already-developed
technology for as much as 80 percent of the spacecraft's design.
The goal of the innovative X-38 project is to develop a Crew
Return Vehicle, a "lifeboat," for the Space Station.
As the Space Station grows, holding as many as seven crew members,
two X-38-derived Crew Return Vehicles may be attached to the
orbiting facility. The first test drops of the X-38 have taken
place over Dryden.
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| The X-38 prototype Crew
Return Vehicle (CRV) is airborne under the wing of NASA's B-52
aircraft. Engineers are testing the X-38 as a step toward vehicles
that would return crew members of the International Space Station
in emergency situations. |
Dryden is the site for a rigorous flight research program,
dubbed the "Hyper-X," or X-43A. This program is set
to demonstrate airframe-integrated, air-breathing engine technologies.
Such an engine concept promises to increase payload capacity
for future vehicles, including reusable space launchers and aircraft
that fly more than five times the speed of sound. Orbital Sciences
Corporation's Pegasus launch vehicle is being modified to push
the X-43A to high speeds. In the near future, the first of a
series of X-43A flights are scheduled, with the Hyper-X craft
geared to reach 10 times the speed of sound. These hypersonic
speeds will demonstrate ramjet/scramjet engine technologies.
If successful, the X-43A aircraft is designed to fly faster than
any previous air-breathing aircraft.
Regarding the purpose of flight research, the work at Dryden
is perhaps best characterized by the late Dr. Hugh L. Dryden
himself, "...to separate the real from the imagined, and
to make known the overlooked and the unexpected problems...."
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Hyper-X
program's X-43A vehicle is to be powered by air-breathing scramjet
engine technologies, pushing the craft to 10 times the speed
of sound. |
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