X-38 CREW RESCUE VEHICLE
Notes:
After Congress effectively cancelled the HL-20, NASA briefly examined using the French “Hermés” mini-shuttle and off-the-shelf Russian Soyuz capsules as the Space Station's lifeboat before finally settling for the in-house cheaperfasterbetter” X-38 design. This vehicle is based on the old X-23/X-24A lifting body which was extensively tested in the 1960s. The total cost is estimated to be approximately $1 billion.
The X-38 will return all six International Space Station astronauts to Earth in an emergency. NASA is also hoping the European Space Agency will develop an X-38 Crew Transfer Vehicle version that could be launched on the Ariane-5 rocket. In March 1998, the total expected program cost to the first reentry test from orbit was $280 million, plus $150 million for a Shuttle launch. Production of four operational CRVs plus a fifth for ground training would cost $500 million. The 8.7m long vehicle will weigh 9.072t and have an in-orbit lifetime of five years.
The X-38 descent profile is shown here. Perhaps the biggest challenge has been the giant landing parafoil which will provide a pinpoint vertical landing capability. The first landing tests were carried out in 1998-99 and the vehicle will be fully operational in 2003. .
