X-38 Ship #2 in Free Flight after Release from B-52 Mothership
The X-38 research vehicle drops away from NASA's B-52 mothership immediately after being released from the B-52's wing pylon. More than 30 years earlier, this same B-52 launched the original lifting-body vehicles flight tested by NASA and the Air Force at what is now called the Armstrong Flight Research Center and the Air Force Flight Test Center. NASA B-52, Tail Number 008, was an air launch carrier aircraft, "mothership," as well as a research aircraft platform that had been used on a variety of research projects. The aircraft, a "B" model built in 1952 and first flown on June 11, 1955, was used on some of the most significant research projects in aerospace history. The aircraft was retired on December 17, 2004, in a ceremony at the then-named Dryden Flight Research Center, after nearly 50 years of flight test and research. It was the oldest B-52 still on flight status and had the lowest flight time of any B-52.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: EC99-4508 0-25
Date: July 9, 1999
X-38 Ship #2 in Free Flight after Release from B-52 Mothership
The X-38 research vehicle drops away from NASA's B-52 mothership immediately after being released from the B-52's wing pylon. More than 30 years earlier, this same B-52 launched the original lifting-body vehicles flight tested by NASA and the Air Force at what is now called the Armstrong Flight Research Center and the Air Force Flight Test Center. NASA B-52, Tail Number 008, was an air launch carrier aircraft, "mothership," as well as a research aircraft platform that had been used on a variety of research projects. The aircraft, a "B" model built in 1952 and first flown on June 11, 1955, was used on some of the most significant research projects in aerospace history. The aircraft was retired on December 17, 2004, in a ceremony at the then-named Dryden Flight Research Center, after nearly 50 years of flight test and research. It was the oldest B-52 still on flight status and had the lowest flight time of any B-52.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: EC99-4508 0-25
Date: July 9, 1999