Mother ship
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A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft.
The NASA X-43 being dropped from under the wing of Balls 8, a B-52 Stratofortress
Orbital Sciences Stargazer, a converted Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 500 carrying a Pegasus XL rocket
A Sparrowhawk fighter attached to the "trapeze" apparatus of Macon, 1933
A Japanese Mitsubishi G4M2e Betty launching an Ohka
North American X-15
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The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of
Mother ship
…Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental aircraft to altitudes where they can conduct their research (such as the B-52 carrying the X-15), or ships that carry small submarines to an area of ocean to be explored (such as the Atlantis II carrying the Alvin). A mother ship may also be used…
X-15A-3 pulls away from its drop launch plane over Edwards Air Force Base during a mission in the 1960s.
X-15 after igniting rocket engine
Cockpit of an X-15
X-15A-2, with sealed ablative coating, external fuel tanks, and ramjet dummy test