From Hollywood To Orbit: Palm Springs Air Museum unveils Darkstar and X-38 exhibits
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) - A piece of Hollywood fantasy and a rare prototype from NASA’s past are now on display in the desert.
The Palm Springs Air Museum has unveiled two new exhibits: Darkstar, a sleek mock jet featured in Top Gun: Maverick, and the X-38, a real spacecraft prototype designed as an emergency escape vehicle for astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
“This is basically a lifeboat for the ISS,” said Fred Bell, vice chairman of the museum. “If something went wrong up there, this could detach and glide back to Earth just like a space plane.”
The X-38, developed by NASA in the late 1990s and early 2000s, was built to deploy from the space station and glide to safety using the largest steerable para-foil ever constructed. The program was canceled due to budget cuts before the vehicle ever went into full service, but three prototypes were built—and one of them is now at the museum.
“It’s a lifting body,” Bell said. “No wings—just a big slab that would re-enter at an angle, deploy that massive parachute, and steer itself down to a dry lakebed.”
A few feet away stands another attention-grabber: Darkstar, the fictional hypersonic jet flown by Tom Cruise’s character in Top Gun: Maverick. While it looks like it could break the sound barrier, Bell says it’s more movie magic and never flew.
“Tom Cruise actually sat in that cockpit,” Bell said. “But this thing never flew. The nose detaches, they mounted it on a gimbal to get those dramatic in-cockpit shots—it’s basically a high-tech movie prop.”
In the future the artificats, the X-38 and Darkstar, will eventually be part of the museum’s new Lockheed Martin Skunkworks Annex, currently in pre-development. The annex will support the museum’s upcoming “Rocketeer Program,” focused on suborbital flight and rocket education.
The aircraft are on view now through Easter Sunday, April 20 perfect timing for spring break visitors.
For more information on the Palm Springs Air Museum and upcoming exhibits, visit this link.
