These new data provide confidence that the Lynx aerodynamic shape will have stable and controllable flight throughout the range of Mach numbers and angles of attack needed for the Lynx mission.

The recent tests add to subsonic wind tunnel testing data obtained by XCOR late last year at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton. As part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), XCOR, NASA and the Air Force will all benefit from the data. The tests are a joint effort between XCOR and the AFRL's Air Vehicles Directorate.

Lynx is a two-seat, single-stage winged suborbital vehicle that lifts off from a runway powered by non-toxic, reusable rocket engines. The vehicle can carry safely to the edge of space and back a pilot, one spaceflight participant, and engineering and scientific payloads. The Lynx can be flown up to four times a day with minimal touch labor between flights.

"We continue to make excellent progress on the Lynx aerodynamic shape," said XCOR CEO Jeff Greason. "The tests at MSFC gave us live information about the aerodynamic profile of the Lynx in transonic and supersonic flows, which occur during ascent and re-entry. We greatly appreciate the warm welcome and support we received at Marshall."

The trisonic wind tunnel at MSFC, which also tested the Jupiter C, Saturn family, and Space Shuttle, evaluates the integrity and stability of rockets and launch vehicles with subsonic, transonic, and supersonic wind flows.

"Commercial space companies such as XCOR can benefit from NASA's extensive facilities and experienced staff, while NASA benefits from the data generated by innovative designs such as the Lynx spacecraft and interaction with the US commercial space industry," said Jeff Greason.

Andrew Nelson, XCOR COO added, "These tests complete another milestone toward delivering wet-lease Lynx vehicles and provide a great example of how government and commercial space entrepreneurs can work together to invigorate American industry and rebuild the Tier 2 and Tier 3 aerospace supplier base in our country."

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
XCOR Aerospace
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

LockMart And ATK Athena Launch Vehicles Selected As A NASA Launch Services Provider Sirius XM-5 Satellite Delivered To Baikonur For October Launch Emerging Technologies May Fuel Revolutionary Launcher EUMETSAT Chooses Arianespace To Launch Metop-C NASA tests (cramped) Mars-type rovers in Arizona desert Team Restoring Mars Orbiter After Reboot Strong Robotic Arm Extends From Next Mars Rover 105 Days In Isolation - And Counting - For 400 More Water on Moon is bad news for China's lunar telescope New Insights Into The Moon's Rich Geologic Complexity Astrium Investigates Automatic Landing At The Moon's South Pole Observe The Moon Night Goes Global The Longest Space Mission Uranus may have been cosmic 'pinball' Flying To The Edge Picture-Perfect Pluto Practice This Planet Smells Funny Scientists looking to spot alien oceans Deadly Tides Mean Early Exit For Hot Jupiters Can We Spot Volcanoes On Alien Worlds U.K. predicts 'spaceplane' in 10 years Successful Static Testing Of L 110 Liquid Core Stage Of GSLV 3 Danish rocketeers abort launch attempt Technical glitch grounds homemade Danish rocket China's Space Programme Gears Up For Missions To Moon And Mars China's Second Lunar Probe Chang'e-2 To Reach Lunar Orbit Faster Than Chang'e-1 China Finishes Construction Of First Unmanned Space Module China Contributes To Space-Based Information Access A Lot Scientists find 'rubble pile' asteroids Avoiding An Asteroid Collision Amateur Astronomers Open Potential Lab In Outer Space For Planetary Scientists Two asteroids to pass close to Earth, but won't hit: NASA