Jim Cast

Headquarters, Washington, DC July 20, 1995

(Phone: 202/358-1779)

Dom Amatore
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
(Phone: 205/544-0031)

RELEASE: 95-114

NASA RECEIVES "DC-XA" ROCKET FOR DEVELOPMENT OF RLV

TECHNOLOGY

The U.S. Air Force has transferred to NASA's Office of

Space Access and Technology the unpiloted, single-stage rocket
known as the Delta Clipper-Experimental (DC-X) for use in
NASA's Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) technology program.

The transfer was made after the successful completion of a

series of test flights conducted for the Air Force by
McDonnell Douglas at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range
in New Mexico. The rocket, renamed the Delta Clipper-
Experimental Advanced (DC-XA) by NASA, now will be modified
with technology intended for use in the X-33 or X-34 reusable
launch vehicles now under development by NASA and its
aerospace industry partners.

The DC-XA then will undergo extensive ground and flight

testing that will provide valuable information to the X-33 and
X-34 programs. Flight testing could begin as early as April
1996 at White Sands.

"We plan to take these new technology components and test

them in a real world environment," said NASA's DC-XA project
manager Dan Dumbacher of Marshall Space Flight Center,
Huntsville, AL. Marshall is the host center for NASA's RLV
technology program. "We will demonstrate what it takes to
support and operate this single-stage rocket and show its
performance in the real world. What we learn by testing the
DC-XA will enable us to reduce hardware design changes
downstream in the X-33 and X-34 programs. This will save
these programs both time and money."
 McDonnell Douglas will make the enhancements to the DC-XA
in Huntington Beach, CA. Changes include the addition of an
aluminum-lithium liquid oxygen tank; a composite (graphite
epoxy) liquid hydrogen tank; a composite intertank; and a
liquid-to-gas converter assembly in the flight reaction
control system. McDonnell Douglas will design and develop
most of these components and conduct the flight tests for
NASA. They will share some of the costs of the DC-XA.
Hardware costs are $20 million and integration costs are $30
million.

-more-
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Phillips Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in

Albuquerque, NM, will act as NASA's deputy for Flight Test and
Operations for the DC-XA. NASA field centers supporting the
DC-XA include Marshall; Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA;
and the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA.

- end -

EDITOR'S NOTE: Images are available to media representatives

to illustrate this release by calling the News Branch at
202/358-1900.

NASA photo numbers are: Color: 95-HC-361, 95-HC-362, 95-HC-

363; Black & White: 95-H-371, 95-H-372, 95-H-373.

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