DELTA CLIPPER TEST PROGRAM OFF TO FLYING START
LAS CRUCES, N.M., June 20, 1994 — Flight tests of the Delta Clipper-
Experimental (DC-X) resumed today as the single-stage vehicle lifted off the
flight stand here at White Sands Missile Range. The 8:42 a.m. MDT liftoff
began the experimental flight vehicle’s fourth consecutive successful flight.
DC-X is being developed by McDonnell Douglas for the Ballistic Missile
Defense Organization (BMDO) Single Stage Rocket Technology Program to prove
the practicality, reliability, operability and cost efficiency of a reusable,
single-stage-to-orbit flight vehicle. Flight tests were halted late last year
when funds were exhausted. In April of this year, the NASA and the Advanced
Research Projects Agency provided funds to complete testing in 1994.
The DC-X reached an altitude of 1,500 feet, and then followed a curved ascent
to a height of 2,600 feet, traveling laterally 1,050 feet from the take-off
point. Then flight controls commanded the DC-X to reverse its direction of
flight and climb to an altitude of 2,850 feet. Once over its landing pad the
vehicle descended vertically and touched down 136 seconds after liftoff.
During this flight profile, the vehicle went through an angle of attack range
of zero to 70 degrees.
“We’re extremely pleased to be back in the air again. Today’s flight further
expands the DC-X’s flight envelope,” said Paul Klevatt, McDonnell Douglas
program manager. “The flight was the fourth in a series of sub-orbital
flights designed to demonstrate vertical takeoff and landing, subsonic
maneuverability,” he added.
After completion of the planned flight tests series this summer, the DC-X
will be turned over to NASA. NASA is planning to upgrade systems and
subsytems, incorporating advanced technologies for reflight of the vehicle
in 1996.
The McDonnell Douglas team comprises an international group of aerospace
companies: Douglas Aircraft Co., Long Beach, Calif.; McDonnell Douglas
Aerospace at Huntington Beach, Calif., St. Louis, and Kennedy Space Center;
Aerojet Propulsion Division, Sacramento, Calif.; Allied Signal Aerospace Co.,
Torrance, Calif.; Chicago Bridge and Iron Services, Inc., Oak Brook, Ill.;
Deutsche Aerospace, Munich, Germany; General Connector, San Fernando, Calif.;
Harris Corp., Rockledge, Fla.; Honeywell, Clearwater, Fla.; Integrated
Systems, Santa Clara, Calif.; Martin Marietta, Denver, Colo.; New Mexico
State University, Las Cruces, N.M.; Pratt & Whitney Government Engines and
Space Division, West Palm Beach, Fla.; Process Fabrication, Inc., Santa Fe
Springs, Calif.; Scaled Composites, Mojave, Calif.; and SpaceGuild, San
Carlos, Calif.
WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M., June 27, 1994
Today at 8:37 a.m. MDT the Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X) single-stage
launch vehicle executed a safe landing on the desert floor, following an
anomaly which occurred at takeoff.
An explosion of unknown origin took place at engine startup with subsequent
damage to the DC-X’s graphite fiber aeroshell. The DC-X, however, continued
through its flight sequence with its avionics and engine systems performing
normally, and liftoff was according to expectations.
“We were 17 seconds into the initial launch and flight mode when Pete Conrad,
DC-X flight manager, initiated the vehicle’s emergency autoland sequence and
it descended according to plan,” said Paul Klevatt, McDonnell Douglas’ DC-X
program director. Total flight time from start of engines to landing was 78
seconds. “We are pleased the vehicle returned essentially intact so that it
can be repaired and flown again,” Klevatt added.
Following the test flight, Lt. Col. Jess Sponable, Single Stage Rocket
Technology program manager for the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization
(BMDO) stated, “This anomaly resulted in successful demonstrations of several
important firsts: executing the autoland sequence demonstrating an
‘aircraft-like’ abort mode; landing on the gypsum, demonstrating the ability
to land future SSTO vehicles virtually anywhere; and demonstrating the
system’s toughness and robustness, since the DC-X continued to fly despite
the aeroshell damage.” An anomaly investigation team has been formed and will
report its findings and recommendations to Lt. Col. Sponable as soon as all
data has been analyzed.
DC-X is being developed by McDonnell Douglas for the BMDO Single Stage Rocket
Technology Program to prove the practicality, reliability, operability and
cost efficiency of a reusable, single-stage-to-orbit flight vehicle.
WHITE SANDS, N.M., May 16, 1995
The Delta Clipper Experimental launch vehicle (DC-X) climbed into the skies
over the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range at 9:40.02 MDT today to resume
a rigorous series of flight tests.
The single-stage, vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing vehicle reached an
altitude of 4,350 feet flying at a constant angle. During the ascent, the
DC-X traveled 1,150 feet from the flight stand. The vehicle traveled
laterally until it was positioned over its landing pad located 350 feet from
the initial flight stand. The DC-X touched down approximately 123.6 seconds
after liftoff.
“Today’s flight and subsequent flights are a continuation of those that were
accomplished in 1993 and 1994 and are an expansion of the flight envelope
similar to that done for new aircraft,” said Dave Schweikle, director of
McDonnell Douglas’ DC-X program. “The results of the technical demonstration
will provide valuable aerodynamic data, launch vehicle rotation dynamics, and
control system performance.”
Plans call for up to three additional flight tests this year. The DC-X will
fly high-angle-of-attack maneuvers with sweeps of up to 180 degrees. These
maneuvers will help to validate the computational fluid dynamics, control
system dynamics, and wind tunnel models used to design single-stage-to-orbit
vehicles.
The tests will contribute more data about the flight environment and flight
characteristics of single-stage vehicles. The series will also continue to
provide data on the reusable launch vehicle’s quick turn-around operations.
Under the U.S. Air Force contract, McDonnell Douglas has resumed flight tests
almost a year after an explosion damaged the experimental vehicle.
During the fifth flight test last June, an external detonation of fuel cloud
vapors caused by the ground support equipment damaged the DC-X. Despite
a vertical tear in the vehicle’s aeroshell during takeoff, the 42-foot-high
DC-X successfully executed a controlled emergency landing on the desert floor.
McDonnell Douglas originally developed the experimental vehicle for the
Ballistic Missile Defense Organization with the support of the Air Force
Phillips Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., and demonstrated its
subsonic maneuverability and airplane-like operability and maintainability in
suborbital flight tests on Aug. 18, Sept. 11, and Sept. 30 in 1993, and again
on June 20 and 27 last year.
Following the conclusion of this year’s flight tests, McDonnell Douglas will
integrate key advanced technology components into the experimental vehicle
under a series of cooperative research agreements awarded by NASA. The
upgraded vehicle will be called the DC-XA, and flight tests are scheduled to
resume in 1996. Phillips Laboratory will act as NASA’s deputy for Flight
Test and Operations, managing the final DC-XA flights in 1996.
White Sands, NM, June 12, 1995
The Delta Clipper Experimental launch vehicle (DC-X) continued to expand its
limits today during its seventh flight test which began at 8:38 a.m. at the
U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range.
The single-stage, vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing rocket reached an
altitude of 5,700 feet, bettering the 4,350 feet mark set during the last
flight on May 16. During ascent maneuvering the McDonnell Douglas-built
DC-X’s angle of attack swept from zero to 70 degrees to gather data on
aerodynamics and flight controls.
The DC-X traveled 1,950 feet down range and flew sideways at 110 feet per
second back to the landing site during the flight test. The vehicle descended
base first at 200 feet per second compared to the 145-feet-per-second rate of
the earlier flight. Total flight time was 2 minutes and 12 seconds.
“We are taking an incremental approach to expanding the limits of the DC-X in
preparation for the rotation maneuver in the next fight,” said Dave
Schweikle, director of McDonnell Douglas’ DC-X program. “Each successive
flight further demonstrates the feasibility of a reusable rocket that has
aircraft-like operabiity and maintainability,” he added. Post flight
activities will provide information for rapid turnaround between flights of a
reusable launch vehicle.
A critical technology demonstration during flight was the first use of four
gaseous oxygen-hydrogen thrusters. These reaction control thrusters
demonstrated the ability to further control the vehicle, according to Pete
Conrad, McDonnell Douglas’ DC-X flight manager. In addition the test further
demonstrated other flight controls, including engine throttling and use of
flaps located on the sides of the vehicle.
Test plans call for up to two additional flights this year. The flight tests
will build up to high-angle-of-attack maneuvers with sweeps of up to 180
degrees to simulate the rotation maneuver that a single-stage-to-orbit
vehicle would execute for a vertical landing.
The DC-X, built by McDonnel Douglas in Huntington Beach, California, is
managed by the U.S. Air Force Phillips Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base
in New Mexico. Flight test support is provided by the Air Force’s Space and
Missile Center Test and Evaluation Directorate in support of the NASA
Reusable Launch Vehicle program.
At the conclusion of this year’s flight tests, McDonnell Douglas will
integrate key advanced technology components into the experimental vehicle
under a series of cooperative agreements awarded by NASA.
Flight tests are scheduled to resume in 1996; the vehicle will be called the
DC-XA.
The above information was obtained from a news release from McDonnell Douglas.
The Delta Clipper Experimental Demonstrates Re-Entry Maneuver.
The Delta Clipper-Experimental launch vehicle (DC-X) has successfully
completed its eighth flight while performing the critical rotation maneuver
that a vertical-landing rocket would execute after re-entering the Earth’s
atmosphere.
After climbing to 8,200 feet at a maximum ascent rate of 240 feet per second
today, the McDonnell Douglas-built experimental rocket set up for the maneuver
by pointing its nose 10 degrees below the horizon, and then it rotated 138
degrees to a base-first flight attitude. The DC-X then landed base first
using its four Pratt & Whitney RL-10 engines as brakes. ‘Today, the DC-X
demonstrated the maneuver required by a full-scale vertical landing reusable
launch vehicle using propulsion control,’ said Save Schweikle, director of
McDonnell Douglas’ DC-X program. ‘The incremental expansion of the DC-X
flight envelope over the previous flights has been in preparation for this
critical maneuver,’ he explained. The test flight for the DC-X, a
vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing rocket, began at 7:02 a.m. MDT at the U.S.
Army’s White Sands Missile Range. Total flight time was two minutes and four
seconds.
The maximum altitude of today’s flight was 8,200 feet, which exceeded the
5,700 feet flown during the last flight on June 12. During the assent, the
DC-X traveled 2,100 feet down range from the flight pad and performed the 138
degree rotation maneuver as it returned toward the landing site. The DC-X
descended base first at 165 feet per second from an altitude of about 7,000
feet, using its engines to brake for a landing.
Each flight continues to demonstrate the feasibility of a reusable rocket
which has aircraft-like operability and maintainability. Similar to the June
12 test, post-flight activities will provide information for rapid turnaround
between flights for a reusable launch vehicle.
The DC-X, built by McDonnell Douglas in Huntington Beach, CA, is managed by
the U.S. Air Force Phillips Laboratory at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico. Flight
test support is provided by the Air Force Space and Missile Center, Test and
Evaluation Directorate.
When this year’s flight test program ends, McDonnell Douglas will integrate
key advanced technology components into the experimental vehicle under a
series of cooperative agreements awarded by NASA. Flight tests are scheduled
to resume in 1996; the vehicle will then be call DC-XA.
The above information was obtained from a news release from McDonnell Douglas.