The X-40A SMV being delivered to NASA Dryden Flight Research Centerat Edwards, California. Marking a major milestone in the X-37 project, an 85-percent scale test vehicle of the experimental space plane was delivered to NASA for flight testing. The X-40A test vehicle, first built for the Air Force by the Boeing Company at its Seal Beach, Calif., facility, and successfully flight tested at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., was shipped from Boeing to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, Calif. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala, manages the X-37 project. At Dryden, the X-40A underwent a series of ground and air tests to reduce possible risks to the larger X-37 - including drop tests from a helicopter to check guidance and navigation systems planned for use in the X-37. The X-37 is designed to demonstrate technologies in the orbital and reentry environments for next-generation reusable launch vehicles that will increase both safety and reliability, while reducing launch costs from $10,000 per pound to $1,000 per pound. The X-37, carried into orbit by the Space Shuttle, is planned to fly two orbital missions to test reusable launch vehicle technologies.
