European Shuttle Prototype Lands Safely

导读：欧洲航空防务与空间公司“凤凰号”航天飞机模型在瑞典成功试飞。

Sun, May 09, 2004

STOCKHOLM, Sweden(瑞典首都-斯德哥尔摩) - An unmanned prototype of a European space shuttle glided¹ safely back to Earth on Saturday after being dropped from nearly 8,000 feet up by a helicopter.

Guided by Global Positioning System satellites(全球定位卫星), the German-designed EADS(欧洲航空防务与空间公司) Phoenix² was dropped by a heavy-duty helicopter over Sweden at 9:45 a.m. and "landed perfectly³" 90 seconds later on a test runway north of Stockholm, a project spokeswoman said.

"Everyone here is ecstatic," said Johanna Bergstroem-Roos, of the North European Aerospace⁴ Test Range in Kiruna, 770 miles north of Stockholm.

"This gives us wind in our sails."

The Phoenix shuttle, along with the Ariane 5 rocket, represents the European Space Agency's hope for sending astronauts into space, but project managers concede a full-size version will not be ready until sometime between 2015 and 2020.

The test flight was originally planned for Friday but was postponed⁵ so technicians could finish analyzing⁶ data from an earlier test of the vehicle's onboard computers this week.

The next step likely will be to drop the prototype from higher altitudes, with the help of a high-altitude balloon, Bergstroem-Roos said. The finished shuttle must be capable of gliding⁷ to land from an altitude of 80 miles, she said.

The prototype is just under 23 feet long, weighs 2,640 pounds and has a wingspan of 13 feet. It's one-sixth the size of the actual planned vehicle.

EADS, or the European Aeronautic⁸ Defense⁹ and Space Co., is the largest aerospace company in Europe and the second-largest worldwide.