X-38

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The X-38 was a program under leadership of NASA Johnson Space Center to build a series of incremental flight demonstrators for the proposed Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station. The program also, in an unusual move for a X-plane, involved the European Space Agency and the German Space Agency DLR. It was originally called X-35.

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These vehicles were unpiloted lifting bodies. The flight models were:

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• X-38 V-131
• X-38 V-132
• X-38 V-131R, which was the V-131 prototype reworked with a modified shell
• X-38 V-201, which was an orbital prototype to be launched by the Space Shuttle
• X-38 V-133 and V-202 were also foreseen at some point in the project but were never built.

The X-38 V-131 and V-132 shared the aerodynamic shape of the X-24A. It was patterned after a lifting-body shape first employed in the Air Force-NASA X-24 lifting-body project in the early to mid-1970s. This shape had to be enlarged for the Crew Return Vehicle needs (crew of seven astronauts) and redesigned, especially in the rear part, which became thicker.

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The X-38 V-131R was designed at 80 percent of the size of a CRV, and featured the final redesigned shape. (Two later versions, V-133 and V-201, were planned at 100 percent of the CRV size.)

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The X-38 V-201 orbital prototype was 80 percent complete, but never flown.

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In tests the V-131, V-132 and V-131R were dropped by a B-52 from altitudes of up to 45,000 ft (13,700 m), gliding at near transonic speeds before deploying a drogue parachute to slow them to 60 mph (95 km/h). The later prototypes had their descent continue under a 7,500 ft² (700 m²) parafoil wing, the largest ever made.

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Flight control was mostly autonomous, backed up by a ground-based pilot.

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The X-38 project was cancelled on April 29, 2002 due to budget concerns.

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However, a lifting body shape is considered for the Crew Exploration Vehicle and could be considered as an heritage from the X-38 project.

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X-38: See Also ►



 

NASA: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which was established in 1958, is the agency responsible for the public space program of the United States of America. It is also responsible for long-term civilian and military aerospace research....

Johnson Space Center: REDIRECT Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center...

Crew Return Vehicle: The Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) was a design for a crew return vehicle for crew at the International Space Station (ISS). Its development was cancelled in 2001. It would have increased the current crew return capacity of three people, currently provided by the Russian Soyuz TMA vehicle....