The Pegasus air-launched space booster is carried aloft under the right wing of NASA's B-52 carrier aircraft on its first captive flight from the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The first of two scheduled captive flights was completed on November 9, 1989. Pegasus is used to launch satellites into low-earth orbits cheaply. In 1997, a Pegasus rocket booster was also modified to test a hypersonic experiment (PHYSX). An experimental "glove," installed on a section of its wing, housed hundreds of temperature and pressure sensors that sent hypersonic flight data to ground tracking facilities during the experiment’s flight.
NASA Media Usage Guidelines
Credit: NASA
Image Number: EC89-0309-3
Date: November 9, 1989
Tags: B-52 Pegasus small launch vehicle
This image shows a Pegasus launch vehicle on the ground before its flight on a B-52. An air-launched, three stage, all solid- propellant, three-axis stabilized vehicle, the Pegasus can set a 400-1,000 pound payload into low-Earth orbit.
NASA Media Usage Guidelines
Credit: NASA
Image Number: PegasusGround
Date: September 5, 1989
Tags: 84044 Pegasus small launch vehicle