posted 11-26-2010 09:33 PM               

On the Road Again: X-34s Moved to Mojave for Inspection

The two X-34 hypersonic research aircraft developed by Orbital Sciences Corp. to serve as flight demonstrators for a NASA rocket engine technology development program in the mid-1990s were transported overland via truck from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base to the Mojave Air and Spaceport Nov. 16-17. The two technology demonstrators will be stored temporarily at a hangar operated by the National Test Pilot School while undergoing inspections by Orbital Sciences personnel to determine if they are viable for flight.

The two X-34s and parts for a third had been in storage at various locations on Edwards and at NASA Dryden for the past eight years, after the original development program was terminated in 2001 for both technical and budgetary reasons. Although the first X-34 was carried aloft for three captive-carry flights by Orbital's Lockheed L-1011 mother ship in 1999, neither X-34 ever flew in free flight.

According to John Kelly, NASA Dryden's Flight Opportunities Program office manager, the two vehicles are under consideration as potential flight platforms for reusable space launch vehicle technology demonstrations, such as return-to-launch-site recovery and rapid-turnaround for lower-cost operations.

Under an existing contract with NASA's Ames Research Center, Orbital Sciences personnel will determine over the next few weeks whether the aircraft can be restored and flown, as well as launched from Orbital's L-1011.

"Orbital will tell us whether these existing vehicles are potentially viable as flight demonstrators," Kelly said.

The overland move of the two X-34s was coordinated by Kay & Associates, the ground equipment and transportation support contractor at NASA Dryden.

posted 11-26-2010 09:40 PM               

The idea to ship the X-34s to Mojave and inspect them originated with a Dryden-based NASA engineer, Brown said. "When he found out this thing still existed ... he decided people should take a look to see if it could be refurbished and made flightworthy." That's when the contractors came to retrieve the two neglected spacecraft, pictured above en route to the Mojave.

But that doesn't mean NASA has formal plans to operate the X-34s under its own auspices, now or ever, Brown stressed. Provided they're in flyable shape, it's far more likely the space agency will make the X-34s available to private industry. "There are a number of firms interested in these things, developing communications and other technologies," Brown said. "It would be helpful if they had a vehicle."

posted 11-30-2010 12:18 PM               

The two completed X-34s and components for the third vehicle were transferred in 2002 to the U.S. Air Force and placed in long-term storage pending use for potential future testing or display at the Edwards Air Force Base museum.

After the program's termination, NASA transferred the space plane prototypes to the Air Force, "which thought it might use them but never did," Brown said. "When the Air Force needed room in the hangar, they [the X-34s] were moved to a bombing range and sat out there deteriorating for several years." The two bots luckily avoided getting bombed, and earlier this year NASA moved them back to its side of Edwards. "They were sitting there a while," Brown mused.