NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center photos from the 2000s

X-38 vehicle #131R arrives at NASA Dryden via NASA'S Super Guppy transport aircraft

X-38 vehicle #131R during pre-launch with B-52 008 mothership and F-18 chase aircraft

The X-38 Second Prototype Flares to a Landing over the Lakebed at the End of Its Fifth Flight at Edwards Air Force Base

Ed Schneider gives a "thumbs-up" after his last flight at the Dryden Flight Research Center

STS-92 - Orbiter in Mate-Demate Device (MDD) at sunrise with Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) in background

STS-92 - Orbiter in Mate-Demate Device (MDD)

This image (captured from animation video) illustrates the X-43A research vehicle alone after separation from the Pegasus booster. (LaRC Photo # EL-2000-00531)

This image (captured from animation video) illustrates the separation of the X-43A research vehicle from the Pegasus booster. (LaRC Photo # EL-2000-00532)

Space Shuttle Atlantis landed at 12:33 p.m. February 20 on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California…

Space Shuttle Atlantis landed at 12:33 p.m. February 20, 2001, on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base…

NASA engineer Wayne Peterson from the Johnson Space Center reviews postflight checklists following a spectacular flight of the X-38 Vehicle 131R

The X-38 prototype of the Crew Return Vehicle is suspended under its giant 7,500-square-foot parafoil during its eighth free flight on Thursday, December 13, 2001

X-43A hypersonic research aircraft mated to its modified Pegasus® booster rocket.

Aerial photo of NASA Dryden Flight Research Center with the Endeavour Space Shuttle and 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft taxiing on ramp

Lockheed ER-2 #809 high altitude research aircraft in flight

The X-43A hypersonic research aircraft and its modified Pegasus® booster rocket mounted to NASA's NB-52B carrier aircraft at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California

The X-43A hypersonic research aircraft and its modified Pegasus® booster rocket recently underwent combined systems testing while mounted to NASA's NB-52B carrier aircraft

NASA's NB-52B carrier aircraft rolls down a taxiway with the X-43A hypersonic research aircraft and its modified Pegasus® booster rocket slung from a pylon under its right wing

NASA's NB-52B carrier aircraft rolls down a taxiway with the X-43A hypersonic research aircraft and its modified Pegasus® booster rocket attached to a pylon under its right wing.

The X-43A hypersonic research aircraft and its modified Pegasus® booster rocket nestled under the wing of NASA's NB-52B carrier aircraft during pre-flight systems testing

The second X-43A hypersonic research aircraft, shown here in its protective shipping jig, arrives at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center

NASA Dryden's new in-house designed Propulsion Flight Test Fixture (PFTF) flew mated to a specially-equipped supersonic F-15B research aircraft during December 2001 and January 2002.

The Aerostructures Test Wing (ATW), which consisted of an 18-inch carbon fiber test wing with surface-mounted piezoelectric strain actuators, was mounted on a special ventral flight test fixture and flown on Dryden's F-15B Research Testbed aircraft

The Aerostructures Test Wing (ATW) experiment, which consisted of an 18-inch carbon fiber test wing with surface-mounted piezoelectric strain actuators, undergoing ground testing prior to flight on Dryden's F-15B Research Testbed aircraft

A half hour behind Columbia's takeoff, the shuttle Atlantis departed the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center…

NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with the Space Shuttle Endeavour on top lifts off to begin its ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida

A long telephoto lens captured Space Shuttle Endeavour landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on May 1, 2001

The Space Shuttle Atlantis centered in the Mate-Demate Device (MDD) at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, California

The five crew members of the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-98 mission depart NASA Dryden to return to the Johnson Space Center at Houston

Space Shuttle Endeavour touches down on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California

Space Shuttle Endeavour flares for landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California to conclude STS-100

Space Shuttle Atlantis/STS-98 shortly before being towed to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center

NASA's space shuttle Atlantis and its 747 carrier taxied on the Edwards Air Force Base flightline as the unusual combination left for Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on March 1, 2001

A lone desert Joshua tree greeted the arrival of Space Shuttle Endeavour at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on May 1, 2001

NASA's Boeing 747 SCA with the Space Shuttle Endeavour on top climbs out after takeoff from Edwards Air Force Base

The Space Shuttle Endeavour receives post-flight servicing in the Mate-Demate Device (MDD) at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California

A convoy of specialized support vehicles follow the Space Shuttle Endeavour as it is towed up a taxiway at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, California, after landing on May 1, 2001

Moments after release from NASA's B-52 carrier aircraft, the X-43A/Pegasus "stack" is seen before ignition of the Pegasus rocket motor on

Ignition of the Pegasus rocket moments after release from the B-52 signaled acceleration of the X-43A/Pegasus combination over the Pacific Ocean

The X-43A/Pegasus combination dropped into the Pacific Ocean after losing control early in the first free-flight attempt

X-43A departs NASA Dryden Flight Research Center for first free-flight attempt

Research pilot and former astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton in an F/A-18

Space Shuttle Endeavour touches down on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California to conclude International Space Station construction and supply mission STS-111

The Space Shuttle Endeavour's drag chute deploys to slow the orbiter as it rolls out on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base at the conclusion of its 14-day STS-111 mission to the International Space Station

NASA's F-15B Research Testbed aircraft flies in the supersonic shock wave of a U.S. Navy F-5E as part of the F-5 Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration (SSBD) project.

Scaled Composites' Proteus aircraft and an F/A-18 Hornet from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center during a low-level flyby at Las Cruces Airport in New Mexico.

The Space Shuttle Endeavour, mounted securely atop one of NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, left NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California at sunrise on Friday, June 28

The Space Shuttle Endeavour, mounted securely atop one of NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, left NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California at sunrise on Friday, June 28, nine days after conclu

STS-111 commander Ken Cockrell greets dignitaries and recovery technicians on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base following the landing of the space shuttle Endeavour on June 19, 2002. Behind Cockrell are (from left) mission specialists Philippe Perrin a

The Space Shuttle Endeavour, accompanied by a convoy of recovery vehicles, is towed up the taxiway at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, following its landing on June 19, 2002. The landing, the 49th to occur at Ed

The Space Shuttle Endeavour receives post-flight servicing in the Mate-Demate Device (MDD), following its landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, June 19, 2002

Teacher Kim Cantrell from the Edwards Air Force Base Middle School, Edwards, Calif., participating in a live uplink at NASA Dryden as part of NASA's Explorer Schools program, asks the crew of the International Space Station a question

NASA Dryden's highly modified F-15B aircraft, tail number 837, serves as an Intelligent Flight Control System (IFCS) research testbed aircraft

Northrop Grumman Corp.'s modified F-5E Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration (SSBD) aircraft flies off the wing of NASA's F-15B Research testbed aircraft.

Scaled Composites' Proteus aircraft and an F/A-18 Hornet from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Mojave Airport in Southern California.

With a laser beam centered on its solar panel, a model aircraft is checked out by technician Tony Frakowiak and researcher Tim Blackwell before its power-beamed demonstration flight.

NASA's F-15B from the Dryden Flight Research Center flew in the supersonic shockwave of a modified U.S. Navy F-5E jet in support of the Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration (SSBD) project. On Aug. 27, 2003, the F-5 SSBD aircraft demonstrated a method to reduce

Scaled Composites' Proteus aircraft with an F/A-18 Hornet and a Beechcraft KingAir from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center during a low-level flyby at Mojave Airport in Southern California.

NASA's SR-71B and F-18 HARV aircraft left Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on March 24, 2003

NASA engineers monitor mission progress from a Dryden control room prior to launch of the X-43A scramjet and its booster from NASA's B-52B mothership