NB-52B Stratofortress launches X-38 Crew Return Vehicle, July 10, 2001

I waited by the runway at Edwards AFB for NASA's Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress to take off with the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle for a couple of hours on the morning of Tuesday, July 10, 2001.

There had been a power failure at NASA Dryden that shut down the systems of the control room just before the scheduled take-off. The take-off was postponed from 8:00 to 10:00. On the scanner I heard the ATIS call out the air temperature as 77 degrees when we first arrived. The desert heated up considerably in the two hours that we waited.

White Northrop T-38A Talons from the test pilot school were flying in the pattern for runway 22 and shooting touch-and-go landings. The red, white, and blue VISTA (Variable In-Flight Stability Test Airplane) Lockheed-Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon took off and departed to the north. Several orange-tailed F-16s of the 412th Test Wing taxied out and took off. Some of them joined the Talons in the pattern.

In the distance we could see dust rising from the lakebed where they were running up the engine of the Lockheed-Martin X-35B joint Strike Fighter.

After a while, the VISTA F-16 returned and shot a long series of low approaches and touch-and-go landings.

We could see smoke rising over the silver and yellow tail of the NB-52B as Gordon Fullerton started up the eight J57 turbojets. Everybody on the radio was reporting that the computer systems in the control room were functioning properly.

The Wolfe Air Cessna 337, N337WA low speed chase plane with stabilized television took off from runway 22.

A white and blue NASA Hornet chase plane lined up with the runway and accelerated toward us. There was only one Hornet, because the other NASA chase plane was down for service. An Air Force F-16B was enlisted to serve as the second chase plane. It was already in the air.

The Hornet circled around and lined up parallel with the runway, aimed directly at us at low altitude. A cloud of black smoke billowed from the NB-52B as Gordon Fullerton turned on the water injection.

The high pitched scream of the engines of the NB-52B grew louder as it approached with steadily increasing speed.

The NB-52B lifted off the runway as it passed our location.

The Hornet pulled into position off the right wing of the NB-52B as they turned to the north and climbed to the launch altitude of 37,500 feet.

We packed our things back into the van for the ride back to Dryden. As usual, the van stopped when we got to the pavement for people to remove bits of gravel from the tire treads so the gravel wouldn't become FOD.

The X-35B was parked on the ramp with its lift jet and lift fan doors open as we drove back up the flightline to Dryden.

The monitor in the Public Affairs Office lobby showed the TV transmissions from the NB-52B and the Hornet chase plane. One of the people from the PAO surfed through the channels, switching between several other TV cameras located around the base. Some of the cameras just showed flightline activity, while a number of powerful telephoto cameras followed the X-38 mission airplanes.

The pilots and launch panel operator were calling out the time to the "cold pass". They were conducting a rehearsal of the launch. Outside I could see the white trail from the smoke generator in the number-2 engine nacelle of the NB-52B approaching from the east. All critical systems performed properly for the cold pass. The NB-52B and its chase planes turned right for another lap around the racetrack pattern. It would take a half hour to fly the lap and launch the X-38.

I stepped outside with my scanner and camera to look at the actual airplanes overhead. I leaned back against the railing around the front porch and braced my foot against the railing on the other side of the wheelchair ramp to steady myself as I aimed my telephoto nearly directly up at the tip of the smoke trail. Through the camera I could make out the shape of the NB-52B and the bright white spot of the Hornet chase plane against the blue-white glare of the summer sky over the Mojave Desert. The shapes became more distinct through the haze as the airplanes got closer to the launch point.

The voice on the radio called down the time to launch. I kept the NB-52B with the X-38 centered in the viewfinder of my camera.

When the voice on the radio called out "Launch, launch, launch!" I fired off a couple of quick frames to capture the X-38 falling away from the Stratofortress.

The X-38 was a barely visible dot as it glided for nearly a minute. It was easier to track the Hornet chase plane flying alongside.

The two dots separated quickly when the X-38 deployed its 80-foot diameter drogue chute. The dark drogue chute was easy to follow as it descended vertically. After several seconds the distance between the X-38 and its drogue chute increased suddenly, and the giant parafoil appeared between them.

The parafoil took form and extended itself to full span in stages. It descended more quickly than the drogue chute, now relieved of the weight of the X-38. The drogue chute drifted into the distance.

The voice on the radio called out the altitude of the X-38 in one thousand foot increments. Eventually the parafoil descended from view behind the main NASA Dryden hangar.

I searched out the NB-52B in the sky to the northwest, snapped a last picture, and went inside to watch the rest of the descent on the monitor.

After the landing, the voices on the radio reported that there hadn't been any "deltas" during the descent. Everything had proceeded according to the flight plan.

Link to the NASA Dryden press release about the X-38 parachute test on July 10.