2001: NASA’s X-43A hypersonic research vehicle made its first captive-carry flight on a B-52 over the Pacific Test Range. At Edwards AFB, NASA mated the X-43 to a Pegasus booster rocket and loaded it on the B-52’s wing pylon for the flight. It was powered by a “scramjet,” a supersonic combustion ramjet, designed for speeds up to Mach 10. (NASA’s B-52B launch aircraft takes off carrying the X-43A hypersonic research vehicle, March 27, 2004.)
