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In its toughest test yet, NASA’s “flying lifeboat” made its first bumpy
landing last week after being dropped nearly 12 000 metres from a B-52 bomber.
But even as the unpiloted X-38 crew return vehicle deployed the world’s largest
parafoil to slow its descent to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, in
Edwards, California, its future remained uncertain. Developed as a wingless,
unpowered escape pod for up to seven crew on the International Space Station,
the project may now be scrapped: some NASA officials favour a powered
version.