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Phantom Ray gets 747 aircraft ride west
Boeing's Phantom Ray unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) headed west to Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California for more testing, the company says.
Sitting on top of a NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) - a modified Boeing 747 - Phantom Ray left St. Louis after a test flights at Lambert International Airport.
"This is exciting not just because it's the first time that an aircraft other than the space shuttle has flown on the SCA, but also because it puts Phantom Ray that much closer to making its first flight," said Craig Brown, Phantom Ray program manager for Boeing.
With no wing break on the hardwing attachment, taking the UAV apart and moving it over land would have been problematic, according to Boeing.
The SCA flights with Phantom Ray are being conducted under a Boeing-funded, commercial Space Act Agreement with NASA. At Dryden, the UAV will undergo ground and high-speed taxi tests to prepare for its first flight in early 2011. A 10-flight test regimen is planned for the new year.
Boeing's new medium-altitude unmanned air vehicle successfully completed low-speed taxi tests in November at Lambert. Phantom Ray, unveiled in May, received orders from its ground control station and autonomously proceeded down the runway several times.
Phantom Ray gets 747 ride west
Boeing's Phantom Ray unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) headed west to Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California for more testing, the company says.
Sitting on top of a NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) - a modified Boeing 747 - Phantom Ray left St. Louis after a test flights at Lambert International Airport.
"This is exciting not just because it's the first time that an aircraft other than the space shuttle has flown on the SCA, but also because it puts Phantom Ray that much closer to making its first flight," said Craig Brown, Phantom Ray program manager for Boeing.
With no wing break on the hardwing attachment, taking the UAV apart and moving it over land would have been problematic, according to Boeing.
The SCA flights with Phantom Ray are being conducted under a Boeing-funded, commercial Space Act Agreement with NASA. At Dryden, the UAV will undergo ground and high-speed taxi tests to prepare for its first flight in early 2011. A 10-flight test regimen is planned for the new year.
Boeing's new medium-altitude unmanned air vehicle successfully completed low-speed taxi tests in November at Lambert. Phantom Ray, unveiled in May, received orders from its ground control station and autonomously proceeded down the runway several times.
Phantom Ray gets 747 ride west
