NASA to test escape vehicle for astronauts

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, California (CNN) -- NASA plans on Thursday to test an escape vehicle for astronauts to use to return to earth in case of an accident or emergency.

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Called the X-38, the unmanned prototype will be lifted to 40,000 feet by a B-52 airplane and dropped over a dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base to test its landing capability. NASA's goal is to develop such an escape vehicle for use on the International Space Station.

Unlike the space shuttle, the X-38 does not have wings.

Instead, it uses the largest parachute ever constructed, with a span of 143 feet and a total surface area of 7,500 square feet. Called a parafoil because of its shape, the parachute slows the vehicle to a manageable landing speed.

During a test in January, the parafoil was attached to a 9-ton pallet and dropped from 21,500 feet. During the 11-minute landing, the parafoil slowed the pallet to a gentle landing speed of less than 8 mph.

Thursday's test at Edwards AFB will be the first time the parafoil is tested on an X-38 prototype. Cameras on the ground, the B-52 and a chase plane will record the release, the deployment of the parafoil and the landing.

NASA plans more tests on the X-38, leading to a space test flight in 2002 when an unmanned vehicle now under construction at the Johnson Space Center will be released in orbit by the space shuttle to fly back to Earth.

Until the X-38 is in place on the International Space Station, Russia will provide a Soyuz space capsule to act as a crew return vehicle for astronauts.

Electrical trouble scrubs X-38 test flight
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X-38 In Brief
February 25, 2000
Space station 'lifeboat' passes second flight test
February 8, 1999

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