As part of a combined systems test conducted by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, NASA's NB-52B carrier aircraft rolls down a taxiway at Edwards Air Force Base with the X-43A hypersonic research aircraft and its modified Pegasus® booster rocket attached to a pylon under its right wing. The taxi test was one of the last major milestones in the Hyper-X research program before the first X-43A flight. The X-43A flights will be the first actual flight tests of an aircraft powered by a revolutionary supersonic-combustion ramjet ("scramjet") engine capable of operating at hypersonic speeds (above Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound). The 12-foot, unpiloted research vehicle was developed and built by MicroCraft Inc., Tullahoma, Tenn., under NASA contract. The booster was built by Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, Va. After being air-launched from NASA's venerable NB-52 mothership, the booster will accelerate the X-43A to test speed and altitude. The X-43A will then separate from the rocket and fly a pre-programmed trajectory, conducting aerodynamic and propulsion experiments until it descends into the Pacific Ocean. Three research flights are planned, two at Mach 7 and one at Mach 10.

NASA's NB-52B carrier aircraft rolls down a taxiway at Edwards Air Force Base with the X-43A hypersonic research aircraft and its modified Pegasus® booster rocket slung from a pylon under its right wing. Part of a combined systems test conducted by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, the taxi test was one of the last major milestones in the Hyper-X research program before the first X-43A flight. The X-43A flights will be the first actual flight tests of an aircraft powered by a revolutionary supersonic-combustion ramjet ("scramjet") engine capable of operating at hypersonic speeds (above Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound). The 12-foot, unpiloted research vehicle was developed and built by MicroCraft Inc., Tullahoma, Tenn., under NASA contract. The booster was built by Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, Va.,After being air-launched from NASA's venerable NB-52 mothership, the booster will accelerate the X-43A to test speed and altitude. The X-43A will then separate from the rocket and fly a pre-programmed trajectory, conducting aerodynamic and propulsion experiments until it descends into the Pacific Ocean. Three research flights are planned, two at Mach 7 and one at Mach 10, with the first tentatively scheduled for late spring to early summer, 2001.

The second X-43A hypersonic research aircraft, attached to a modified Pegasus booster rocket and followed by a chase F-18, was taken to launch altitude by NASA's B-52B launch aircraft from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on March 27, 2004. About an hour later the Pegasus booster was released from the B-52 to accelerate the X-43A to its intended speed of Mach 7. In a combined research effort involving Dryden, Langley, and several industry partners, NASA demonstrated the value of its X-43A hypersonic research aircraft, as it became the first air-breathing, unpiloted, scramjet-powered plane to fly freely by itself. The March 27 flight, originating from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, began with the Agency's B-52B launch aircraft carrying the X-43A out to the test range over the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. The X-43A was boosted up to its test altitude of about 95,000 feet, where it separated from its modified Pegasus booster and flew freely under its own power. Two very significant aviation milestones occurred during this test flight: first, controlled accelerating flight at Mach 7 under scramjet power, and second, the successful stage separation at high dynamic pressure of two non-axisymmetric vehicles. To top it all off, the flight resulted in the setting of a new aeronautical speed record. The X-43A reached a speed of over Mach 7, or about 5,000 miles per hour faster than any known aircraft powered by an air-breathing engine has ever flown.

The second X-43A hypersonic research aircraft and its modified Pegasus booster rocket accelerate after launch from NASA's B-52B launch aircraft over the Pacific Ocean on March 27, 2004. The mission originated from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Minutes later the X-43A separated from the Pegasus booster and accelerated to its intended speed of Mach 7. In a combined research effort involving Dryden, Langley, and several industry partners, NASA demonstrated the value of its X-43A hypersonic research aircraft, as it became the first air-breathing, unpiloted, scramjet-powered plane to fly freely by itself. The March 27 flight, originating from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, began with the Agency's B-52B launch aircraft carrying the X-43A out to the test range over the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. The X-43A was boosted up to its test altitude of about 95,000 feet, where it separated from its modified Pegasus booster and flew freely under its own power. Two very significant aviation milestones occurred during this test flight: first, controlled accelerating flight at Mach 7 under scramjet power, and second, the successful stage separation at high dynamic pressure of two non-axisymmetric vehicles. To top it all off, the flight resulted in the setting of a new aeronautical speed record. The X-43A reached a speed of over Mach 7, or about 5,000 miles per hour faster than any known aircraft powered by an air-breathing engine has ever flown.

Dream Chaser departs in front of HL-10 at NASA Armstrong where it underwent testing and preparation for successful approach and landing flight. The spacecraft returned to SNC facility in Colorado.

SNC Dream Chaser is lifted on to a truck in NASA Armstrong’s historic space shuttle hangar where the spacecraft stayed as it was being prepared for testing and flights. Dream Chaser is in Colorado at a SNC facility.

SNC Dream Chaser is in NASA Armstrong, previously known as space shuttle, hangar being loaded on truck for its departure from the center heading to SNC in Colorado.

This photograph depicts an air-breathing rocket engine prototype in the test bay at the General Applied Science Lab facility in Ronkonkoma, New York. Air-breathing engines, known as rocket based, combined-cycle engines, get their initial take-off power from specially designed rockets, called air-augmented rockets, that boost performance about 15 percent over conventional rockets. When the vehicle's velocity reaches twice the speed of sound, the rockets are turned off and the engine relies totally on oxygen in the atmosphere to burn hydrogen fuel, as opposed to a rocket that must carry its own oxygen, thus reducing weight and flight costs. Once the vehicle has accelerated to about 10 times the speed of sound, the engine converts to a conventional rocket-powered system to propel the craft into orbit or sustain it to suborbital flight speed. NASA's Advanced Space Transportation Program at Marshall Space Flight Center, along with several industry partners and collegiate forces, is developing this technology to make space transportation affordable for everyone from business travelers to tourists. The goal is to reduce launch costs from today's price tag of $10,000 per pound to only hundreds of dollars per pound. NASA's series of hypersonic flight demonstrators currently include three air-breathing vehicles: the X-43A, X-43B and X-43C.

This photograph depicts an air-breathing rocket engine that completed an hour or 3,600 seconds of testing at the General Applied Sciences Laboratory in Ronkonkoma, New York. Referred to as ARGO by its design team, the engine is named after the mythological Greek ship that bore Jason and the Argonauts on their epic voyage of discovery. Air-breathing engines, known as rocket based, combined-cycle engines, get their initial take-off power from specially designed rockets, called air-augmented rockets, that boost performance about 15 percent over conventional rockets. When the vehicle's velocity reaches twice the speed of sound, the rockets are turned off and the engine relies totally on oxygen in the atmosphere to burn hydrogen fuel, as opposed to a rocket that must carry its own oxygen, thus reducing weight and flight costs. Once the vehicle has accelerated to about 10 times the speed of sound, the engine converts to a conventional rocket-powered system to propel the craft into orbit or sustain it to suborbital flight speed. NASA's Advanced SpaceTransportation Program at Marshall Space Flight Center, along with several industry partners and collegiate forces, is developing this technology to make space transportation affordable for everyone from business travelers to tourists. The goal is to reduce launch costs from today's price tag of $10,000 per pound to only hundreds of dollars per pound. NASA's series of hypersonic flight demonstrators currently include three air-breathing vehicles: the X-43A, X-43B and X-43C.