Garrett, D.

Gordon, B.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

NASA News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Washington. D.C. 20546
AC 202 755-8370
Release:
IMMEDIATE
David Garrett
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
(Phone: 202/755-3090)
Bob Gordon
Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
(Phone: 713/483-5111)
RELEASE NO: 77-233
SHUTTLE ORBITER FERRY TEST FLIGHTS BEGIN
Four ferry test flights of the Space Shuttle Orbiter
Enterprise, mated to the Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
(SCA), began this week Nov. 15 and continue Nov. 16, 17 and pos-
sibly 18 at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif.
Flights will measure the performance of the mated combi-
nation with a three degree forward angle between them.
Previous flights were flown with a six degree angle.
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Data gathered will be used for planning the first ferry
flight, now scheduled for March 1978, when Orfaiter Vehicle
101 (the Enterprise) will be transported atop the 747 to
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., for
ground vibration tests.
Subsequent ferry flights will transport future Orbiters
to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida where they will be
launched into space following their construction at the
Rockwell International facility, Palmdale, Calif. After
the first four orbital flights, which will be recovered at
Dryden Center, the Orbiter used in those tests will also be
returned to Kennedy atop the SCA.
In subsequent flights, Orbiters will return and land at
Kennedy Center.
In addition to determining what the best speed and
altitudes are for ferry flight configuration, ether test
conditions to be explored include holding pattern performance
and engine-out performance, both in cruise and the landing/
takeoff pattern. The first flight primarily examined buffet
and flutter effects on the SCA's horizontal tail.
-more-
-3-
Maximum speed for the series of four ferry flights should
be approximately 724 kilometers per hour (450 miles per hour),
*
peak altitude will be 7,925 meters (26,000 feet) and top
takeoff weight will be 322,050 kilograms (710,000 pounds).
Crew for the 747 will be Fitzhugh Fulton, SCA commander,
and Tom McMurtry, SCA pilot. Flight engineers will be Victor
Horton and Skip Guidry. The four were members of the prime
crew who flew most of the approach and landing test flights,
completed Oct. 26, 1977.
NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, is respon-
sible for the design, development and testing of the Space
Shuttle Orbiter.
-end-


Shuttle orbiter ferry test flights begin

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