14 DAY TRIAL // In addition to being one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by humans, the International Space Station (ISS) is also arguably one of the most dangerous places to be on during one's lifetime. There are numerous things that can go wrong, despite the valiant efforts that engineers from many countries make to keep the orbital outpost in a good condition. Space debris, solar flares and other radiations are just some of the things that can easily destroy the facility, so the crew safety must remain a priority.
At this point, the final fail-safe for the six astronauts aboard the station is a group of two Russian-built Soyuz capsules, which can hold up to three people each. They remain docked on the ISS permanently, and are ready to be used at a moment's notice. But, once, the United States also had a program that would have allowed them to ferry astronauts safely back to Earth. The prototype X-38 space plane was an unpowered, seven-person design that would have allowed for all the crew aboard the station to be evacuated at the same time, and safely brought back to Earth.
The design underwent numerous tests, and even made it to the “drop phase,” where modified B-52 long-range bombers took it high into the air, and then released it. Test pilots flew the craft to the ground safely, and the $510-million project seemed to be going well. However, in 2002, the former Bush administration decided to pull the plug on the whole idea, in an attempt to cut costs associated with the US' participation in the ISS endeavor. This type of move was characteristic of Bush, who always praised the space program openly, but took money out of it with every chance he got.
The X-38 was just $50 million away from completion, a small sum for such a grand project. Its design was not groundbreaking, but at least it got the job done, gliding astronauts back to safety, and out of harm's way. People involved with the space plane called Bush's cutting off the funds “absolutely ridiculous,” and pressed for the project to be reinstated. Now, seven years later, the X-38 has been terminated and laid to rest in the Strategic Air and Space Museum, in Ashland, Nebraska, Wired reports.