Aircrew breaks C-17 record with heaviest airdrop: "Members of the 418th Flight Test Squadron here set a record for the heaviest single payload ever extracted out of a C-17A T-1 during flight April 14 over Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz.
A 77,000 pound jumbo drop test vehicle was extracted out of a C-17 at 25,000 feet.
The JDTV is used to test the parachutes for NASA's Ares I launch vehicle's solid rocket booster.
NASA, in conjunction with Alliant Techsystems and the United Space Alliance, is providing a decelerator recovery system for the new five-motor segment solid rocket booster. This recoverable SRB is used in support of the Ares I space launch vehicle and is heavier than the current recoverable space shuttle SRB."
