Léopold Eyharts in front of the X38 mock-up

ESA astronaut Léopold Eyharts stands in front of an X38 mock-up at NASA's Johnson Space Centre in Houston. A 'rescue' vehicle must always be attached to the International Space Station, ready to carry the six or seven astronauts living on board the International Space Station back to earth in an emergency. NASA was developing the innovative X-38 spacecraft to qualify technologies for a Crew Return Vehicle (CRV). ESA was to provide hardware and software as well as engineering expertise in aerodynamics, fuselage structure, landing gear and control surface systems. The development of the X38 was cancelled in 2002.