The X-40A gets a lift from an Army Chinook helicopter during captive carry research flight Dec. 8. The X-40 on the ramp at Dryden. Flight objectives were to conduct functional tests and practice procedures for the future release of the X-40A. A total of seven free flights are planned for early 2001.
Preliminary data indicate the flight went well.
Other test points were radar altimeter checks, runway approaches, and data collection. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., NASA's lead center for space transportation systems development, manages the X-37.