Hed here HOUSTON Technicians are preparing to re-fly the X 38 after weather and electrical problems canceled a late February test in Californias Mojave Desert.
The flight test has been rescheduled for March 29 or 30 at NASAs Dryden Flight Research Center according to John Muratore, X 38 project manager at Johnson Space Center.
The X 38 was to have performed a "drop test" from an aircraft. The test simulates flight conditions similar to those encountered when a reentering craft deploys its parafoil.
"We were kind of disappointed, we got up in the air and we had a problem," Muratore said. "So we came down, did some troubleshooting and determined that the better part of valor was to understand it and move on."
Muratore said radio interference with the crafts control instrumentation cancelled the test. Technicians were able to recreate the problem on the ground and added shielding to cables to correct the problem.
The X 38 Crew Return Vehicle is designed to act as a "lifeboat" for astronauts aboard the International Space Station. It seats six astronauts and is able to land automatically without assistance from those aboard or ground controllers.
On April 5, researchers will conduct another test of the X 38s parafoil at Yuma, Arizona. The parafoil is the largest ever flown with more than 7,500 square feet (
2,285 square meters) of surface area, or about 1.5 times more surface than the wings on a Boeing 747.
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