EDWARDS AFB - NASA Dryden Flight Research Center is studying using surplus Navy Phoenix missiles as hypersonic test platforms. The missiles, with the explosives and targeting systems removed, would be launched from the center's F-15 at speeds nearing Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound. The missile, carrying a test article, would then speed to Mach 5, the threshold of hypersonic speeds. The project is intended to provide a new capability to flight test research payloads at hypersonic speeds, Dryden project manager Tom Jones said. It will bridge the gap between wind tunnel and ground model tests and full-scale...