Boeing X-40
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Boeing X-40A | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Description | ||
| Role | Glide Test Vehicle | |
| Crew | 0 | |
| First Flight | March 14, 2001 (dropped by CH-47 Chinook) |
|
| Manufacturer | Boeing | |
| Dimensions | ||
| Length | 21ft 5in | 6.5 m |
| Wingspan | 11ft 6in | 3.5 m |
| Height | 7ft 5in | 2.3 m |
| Wing area | ft² | m² |
| Weights | ||
| Empty | lb | kg |
| Performance | ||
| Maximum speed | 300 mph | 480 km/h |
| Avionics | ||
| Avionics | Honeywell 12-channel Space Integrated GPS/INS (SIGI) system. | |
The Boeing X-40A Space Maneuver Vehicle was part of the X-37 Future-X Reusable Launch Vehicle project. Built to 85 percent scale, in 2001 it successfully demonstrated the glide capabilities of the X-37's fat-bodied, short-winged design and validated the proposed guidance system. Its first ever drop test occurred at Holloman AFB NM on August 11th 1998 at 6:59AM. This was a joint Air Force/Boeing project known as Space Maneuver Vehicle. It is reported to be the first ever test of a fully autonomous space vehicle (Japan's earlier test turned out to be partially controlled). It was released from approx. 9200 ft at 2.5 miles from the end of runway 04 from a helicopter. The vehicle dove to the runway much the way a Space Shuttle does now, flared, and landed left of centerline. It successfully deployed its drag chutes, tracked to within seven feet of centerline and stopped at just over 7,000 feet.
[edit] See also
Comparable aircraft:
Designation Series: X-37 - X-38 - X-39 - X-40 - X-41 - X-42 - X-43
Lists:
[edit] External links
|
|||||
|
||||||||||||||
