Stock Photo - The X_40A immediately after release from its harness suspended from a helicopter 15,000 feet above NASA´s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on March 14, 2001. The unpiloted X_40 is a risk_reduction vehicle for the X_37, which is intended to be a reusable space vehicle. NASA´s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala, manages the X_37 project. At Dryden, the X_40A underwent a series of ground and air tests to reduce possible risks to the larger X_37, including drop tests from a helicopter to check guidance and navigation systems planned for use in the X_37. The X_37 is designed to demonstrate technologies in the orbital and reentry environments for next_generation reusable launch vehicles that will increase both safety and reliability, while reducing launch costs from $10,000 per pound to $1,000 per pound. The X_37, carried into orbit by the Space Shuttle, is planned to fly two orbital missions to test reusable launch vehicle technologies.