Jim Cast

Headquarters, Washington, DC March 21, 2001

(Phone: 202/358-1779)

Dom Amatore
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
(Phone: 256/544-0031)

Leslie Williams
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA
(Phone: 661/276-3893)

Erik Simonsen
The Boeing Company, Seal Beach, CA
(Phone: 562/797-5473)

RELEASE: 01-51

SUCCESSFUL X-40A TEST FLIGHT GIVES MAJOR BOOST

TO NASA'S X-37 PROGRAM

The X-40A glided to the runway at Edwards Air Force Base

in California, its nose wheel set down smoothly, and the test
vehicle rolled to a gentle stop, but no pilot exited the
craft, for there was no pilot. The X-40A flew itself, guided
by its on-board systems.

"It was truly a beautiful sight, and cause for celebration,"

said Susan Turner, NASA's X-37 program manager at Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.

The X-40A's free flight and landing was conducted as part of

the X-37 program, intended to reduce the risk of flight-
testing the X-37, not from 15,000 feet like the X-40A, but
from low Earth orbit. The X-37 is an experimental re-entry
vehicle that will enable NASA to test advanced technologies
in the harsh environment of space and in returning through
Earth's atmosphere.

This first successful test of the X-40A by NASA was a big

step forward for the X-37 program. Its primary objective was
to validate the vehicle's Computed Air Data Systems (CADS),
which also will be used in the flight control system of the
X-37.
"Our initial review of the test shows the vehicle's
performance matched our predictions nearly perfectly," said
Turner.

This flight also demonstrated the kind of teamwork that will

be needed for NASA to develop a second generation, reusable
launch vehicle capable of replacing today's space shuttle.
The Boeing Company, NASA's partner in X-37, made major
modifications to the X-40A, which was on loan from the U.S.
Air Force, which also participates in the X-37 program. The
test was conducted by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center,
Edwards, CA, with the cooperation of Edwards Air Force Base.
And the X-40A was lifted into the sky and released by a U.S.
Army Chinook helicopter provided by Fort Rucker, AL.

The X-37 program consists of three phases of flight-testing:

The X-40A free-flight series is phase one; phase two begins
with X-37 unpowered flights; and phase three will be the
orbital test flights.

"Incremental testing is a cost-effective approach to

designing an experimental spacecraft," said Turner. "By
leveraging an existing asset -- the X-40A -- we obtain
valuable information that enhances the likelihood of mission
success for the X-37.

"Upcoming free flights will push the envelope further. Each

time, we'll change some of the test variables of the X-40 to
check the vehicle's controllability and maneuverability in a
different flight situation. The results will help us
determine our safety parameters when we fly the X-37."

A second free-flight test of the X-40A is scheduled for early

April. The objectives are the same as the first flight;
however, engineers will modify control variables to see how
the vehicle responds.

The X-40A test vehicle was built in 1998 for the Air Force by
The Boeing Company at its Seal Beach, CA, facility. It has a
fuselage length of 22 feet (about 6.7 meters), a wing span of
12 feet (about 3.65 meters) and weighs about 2,600 pounds
(about 1179 kilograms). It is an 85-percent-scale version of
the X-37.

The X-37 government team, led by Marshall, includes NASA's

Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA; Johnson Space
Center in Houston, TX; Kennedy Space Center, FL; Goddard
Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD; Langley Research Center
in Hampton, VA; Dryden Flight Research Center and the Air
Force Flight Test Center, both at Edwards Air Force Base in
Edwards, CA; and the Space and Missile Systems Center and the
Air Force Research Laboratory in Albuquerque, NM. The X-37
industry team is led by Boeing at Seal Beach, CA.

-end-