Hypersonic flight expected to take place on November 15

The final flight of NASA's X-43A hypersonic research aircraft is still on schedule for Monday afternoon, November 15, weather permitting. The mission is intended to flight-validate the operation of the X-43A's supersonic-combustion ramjet - or scramjet - engine at a record airspeed of almost Mach 10, or 10 times the speed of sound.

The final X-43A mission is also expected to be the last research mission for NASA's venerable B-52B "mothership" heavy launch aircraft, which is due to be retired in the near future after almost fifty years of service.

The X-43A and its modified Pegasus booster rocket were mated to NASA's B-52B launch aircraft on Thursday, November 11. Pre-flight checks of the X-43A and the booster are occurring Friday and Saturday, with final closeouts and fueling slated for Sunday, November 14th. Takeoff on November 15 is tentatively scheduled for about 1300 Pacific time, with launch about an hour later over the Pacific test range off the coast of Southern California.

A post-flight briefing will be held about an hour after the mission concludes, or no earlier than 1600 Pacific time (1900 EST). The briefing will be carried live on NASA Television, and webcast at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html.

NASA TV is available on the Web and via satellite in the continental US on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, at 72 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz. In Alaska and Hawaii, NASA TV is available on AMC-7, Transponder 18C, at 137 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 4060.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz.

FMI: www.nasa.gov