Europe's IXV 'space wedge' performs drop test (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News, Paris

A successful "drop test" has been conducted on Europe's experimental re-entry vehicle, the IXV.

A 1:1 scale model was released from an altitude of 3km by a helicopter, and then descended to a splashdown in the Mediterranean on a parachute.

The IXV is a project of the European Space Agency that aims to develop an autonomous atmospheric re-entry system.

A flight model will be launched on a Vega rocket next year and will have to descend from an altitude of 420km.

The ultimate goal is to develop a vehicle not dissimilar to the American mini spy shuttle called the X-37B, which operates robotically in orbit for a period of time before making an automated return to a runway.
***
more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22984738

[lastlib]

1. for some reason, this brings to mind Dr. Demento........

I seem to recall possibly a Star Trek satire knockoff about a "colossal space wedgie"; anybody else remember it?

[lastlib]

2. aha! found it!

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NegativeSpaceWedgie

"Plot complication showing up on ship's sensors now, Captain. Switching to visual....It's just what we need--a colossal negative space wedgie of great power coming right at us at warp speed......"