Italy tests prototype of unmanned space shuttle

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2007

ROME (AFP) — Italy has successfully tested a prototype of an unmanned space shuttle, dropping the vehicle from high altitude to see how it copes with the stress of re-entry, the Italian Centre for Aerospace Research (CIRA) said on Thursday.

"The launch took place successfully at 0730 GMT on February 24 from Tortoli airport in Sardinia, and the mission was concluded at 0930 GMT with the splashdown of the USV (unmanned space vehicle) in an isolated maritime zone," CIRA said in a statement posted on its website Thursday.

Named Castore, the prototype is a white, torpedo-shaped craft 9.2 metres (30 feet) long and 3.7 meters wide and weighs 1.25 tonnes. It was hoisted by balloon for two hours, to an altitude of 31,000 metres.

Castore was then released from a lower...