|
 Reusable spaceplanes that can carry out controlled landings on
runways rather than splashing down in the ocean could help bring
down costs. They could also enable scientists to bring back samples
from celestial bodies such as comets.
ESA's Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV), which is the size of
a car, lifted off from ESA's spaceport in French Guiana aboard a
rocket at 1340 GMT (0840 ET), following a 40-minute delay caused by
problems with data transmission systems.
The spaceplane separated from the rocket at an altitude of 348
kilometers (216 miles) and coasted up to an altitude of 413
kilometers before descending back toward Earth at a speed of 27,000
kilometers an hour (16,777 mph).
A variety of materials ESA sought to test, ranging from high-tech
carbon fiber to ordinary cork, shielded the craft from temperatures
that can typically reach more than 1,600 degrees Celsius (2,900
Fahrenheit) during re-entry.
 IXV used parachutes to slow down and flaps and thrusters
autonomously steered it to splash down in the Pacific Ocean about
100 minutes after the launch.
There, flotation balloons kept it from sinking while two Zodiac
inflatable boats raced to the landing site to secure the spaceplane
until it was recovered by ship.
"It couldn't have been better ... This will advance the frontiers of
knowledge," ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain said at the
launch site in French Guiana, in comments that were broadcast on the
Internet.
ESA has said it will present data collected by the 300 pressure and
temperature sensors attached to IXV around six weeks after the test
flight.
[to top of second column] |
IXV, which ESA says cost around 150 million euros ($169.70 million)
in design, development and related ground support, is similar to
NASA's space shuttle orbiters, which were retired in 2011 after 30
years of missions, and to the Dream Chaser spaceship being developed
by Sierra Nevada Corp.
Unlike those vehicles, however, the ESA experimental spaceship is
wingless.
The next step for ESA will be development of a re-entry vehicle
dubbed "Pride", which it says will be similar to the U.S. military's
X-37B robotic space plane, though smaller and cheaper and it will be
able to land on a runway.
(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Liisa Tuhkanan)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
