James Cast

Headquarters, Washington, DC February 26, 1999

(Phone: 202/358-1779)

Kirsten Williams
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA
(Phone: 805/258-2662)

Dominic Amatore
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
(Phone: 256/544-0031)

Barron Beneski
Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, VA
(Phone: 703/406-5000)

RELEASE: 99-28

X-34 ARRIVES AT NASA DRYDEN FOR TESTS

The X-34 technology-testbed demonstrator, structural test

article arrived Wednesday at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center,
Edwards, CA, for ground testing and Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) certification of its L-1011 mothership.

The structural test article consists of the X-34's airframe. It

was shipped from Orbital Sciences Corporation's facilities in Dulles,
VA, in two separate trucks -- one for the fuselage and another for
the wing. The first vehicle will be assembled at Dryden before
undergoing ground vibration tests, which ensure that there are no
potentially hazardous vibrations during flight. The L-1011 will
undergo ground vibration tests as well, both alone and mated to the
X-34.

"We are excited to be part of the X-34 team. We are pleased to

be able to make a contribution to this project that adds to Dryden's
legacy in test flight," Dryden X-34 project manager Dave Bushman
said.

Once ground tests are complete, the X-34 will make six or seven
captive-carry flights mated to the L-1011. This will allow the FAA
to approve modifications made to the L-1011 to enable it to carry the
X-34, a much larger vehicle than the L-1011's normal Pegasus Launch
Vehicle payload.

Certification flights will take place in Edwards Air Force Base,

CA, airspace with Dryden providing hangar space, fuel and control
room facilities.

Once certified, a separate X-34 flight vehicle will be

transported to the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range, NM, where
the first portion of the planned 27 flight tests will be conducted.
Once the X-34 has demonstrated safe and reliable performance at White
Sands, the project plans to move to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, FL,
for the remainder of the test flights.

The X-34 is a single-engine rocket with short wings and a small

tail surface. The vehicle is 58.3 feet long, 27.7 feet wide at wing
tip and 11.5 feet tall from the bottom of the fuselage to the top of
the tail.

Plans call for the reusable X-34 to fly at a rate of 25 times

per year. The autonomously operated, suborbital aerospace vehicle
will be air-launched from an L-1011. Capable of flying eight times
the speed of sound and reaching an altitude of 250,000 feet, the X-34
will demonstrate low-cost reusability, autonomous landing, subsonic
flights through inclement weather, safe abort conditions and landing
in 20-knot cross winds.

The X-34 is designed to bridge the gap between the earlier

Clipper Graham, or DC-XA subsonic demonstrator vehicle, and the
larger, more advanced X-33 vehicle. The X-34 project is part of
NASA's Office of Aero-Space Technology, which oversees NASA's efforts
to develop the technology to dramatically reduce the cost of access
to space.

Key technologies being demonstrated by the X-34 include

composite primary and secondary airframe structures; composite
reusable propellant tanks, cryo insulation and propulsion system
elements; advanced Thermal Protection Systems and materials; low-cost
avionics, including differential Global Positioning System and
Inertial Navigation System; integrated vehicle health monitoring
system; flush air data system; and automated vehicle checkout. The
X-34 also will have the potential to serve as a platform for
demonstration of additional technologies and experiments.

The X-34 will be powered by the Fastrac engine, which is

currently in design and development at NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center, Huntsville, AL. Fastrac is a single-stage main engine, which
burns a mixture of liquid oxygen (LOX) and kerosene (RP-1).

Six NASA centers, two Department of Defense installations and an

industry team led by prime contractor Orbital Sciences Corp. are
supporting the development and eventual flight testing of the X-34.
The program is managed for NASA by Marshall.

-end-