Fiery End Marks Test Rocket’s First Flight

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. — A prototype reusable rocket, intended as a forerunner of the space shuttle’s eventual replacement, briefly burst into flames Saturday after completing its first flight.

Damage was superficial and the flight was a success, said officials for the Delta Clipper-Experimental Advanced rocket program.

“This is exactly why you test airplanes and spacecraft, because we’re not yet smart enough to know how everything is going to work,” said Pete Conrad, a former Apollo astronaut and the DC-XA’s flight manager.

The 42-foot upgraded version of the first rocket to take off and land vertically lifted off and soared 800 feet, maneuvered sideways for about 350 feet, then descended on its four columns of blue exhaust flames.

But after it touched down on the landing pad, the bullet-shaped rocket was enveloped in flames and smoke. It remained upright.

The vehicle had hovered above the pad longer than planned, and flame bouncing upward ignited heat-protective paint on the craft’s outside surface, said David Schweikle, DC-XA program manager for McDonnell Douglas Corp. He said it would take about one week to repair.

The DC-XA was expected to continue its five-flight test series as scheduled on June 7. That flight is planned to go up to about 2,000 feet.

The DC-XA was beginning a new series of tests in a NASA program to develop a new generation of reusable launch vehicles to carry payloads into orbit. It was expected to fly five times between now and July, going higher and performing more complex maneuvers each time.

McDonnell Douglas Corp. developed the original DC-X, which completed a series of test flights last July.

The scheduled next step in the program, the X-33, will be roughly twice as tall as the DC-XA, and its test flights are expected to reach near-orbital altitudes.