NASA CV-990

A NASA CV-990, modified as a Landing Systems Research Aircraft (LSRA), is
serviced on the ramp at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards,
California, before a test of the space shuttle landing gear system.

The space shuttle landing gear test unit, operated by a high-pressure
hydraulic system, allowed engineers to assess and document the performance
of space shuttle main and nose landing gear systems, tires and wheel
assemblies, plus braking and nose wheel steering performance. The series of
155 test missions for the space shuttle program provided extensive data
about the life and endurance of the shuttle tire systems and helped raise
the shuttle crosswind landing limits at Kennedy