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Martin X-24 
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X-24A Lifting Body at Edwards AFB This 1968 photo shows the bulbous X-24A Lifting Body research vehicle on the lakebed adjacent to the NASA Flight Research Center. The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base from 1963 to 1975. The lifting bodies were used to demonstrate the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land wingless vehicles designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an airplane at a predetermined site. |
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X-24A Lifting Body on lakebed at Edwards AFB This 1968 photo shows the bulbous X-24A Lifting Body research vehicle on the lakebed adjacent to the NASA Flight Research Center. The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base from 1963 to 1975. The lifting bodies were used to demonstrate the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land wingless vehicles designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an airplane at a predetermined site. Black & White photograph. |
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Side view of X-24A Lifting Body on lakebed, Edwards AFB This side-rear view of the X-24A Lifting Body on the lakebed by the NASA Flight Research Center shows its control surfaces used for subsonic flight. The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base from 1963 to 1975. The lifting bodies were used to demonstrate the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land wingless vehicles designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an airplane at a predetermined site. |
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B-52 mothership drop launched X-24 The X-24A lights its XLR-11 rocket engine and begins its powered flight after being drop launched from its B-52 mothership, seen here with high-altitude contrails streaming from its wings against a dark blue sky. Air Force Maj. Jerauld Gentry at the controls for its first powered flight on March 19, 1970. The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base from 1963 to 1975. The lifting bodies were used to demonstrate the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land wingless vehicles designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an airplane at a predetermined site. |
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Test pilot Cecil Powell with X-24 after flight Air Force test pilot Major Cecil Powell stands in front of the X-24A on the lakebed near the NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, after a 1971 research flight. The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base from 1963 to 1975. The lifting bodies were used to demonstrate the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land wingless vehicles designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an airplane at a predetermined site. |
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Martin Marietta X-24A Instrument panel Front instrument panel in the cockpit of the Martin Marietta X-24A lifting body research vehicle. The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base from 1963 to 1975. The lifting bodies were used to demonstrate the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land wingless vehicles designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an airplane at a predetermined site. |
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X-24 left instrument & control panel The left instrument and control panel in the cockpit of the Martin Marietta X-24A lifting body research vehicle. Built by Martin Aircraft Company, Maryland, for the U.S. Air Force, the X-24A was a bulbous vehicle shaped like a teardrop with three vertical fins at the rear for directional control. It weighed 6,270 pounds, was 24.5 feet long and 11.5 feet wide (measuring just the fuselage, not the distance between the tips of the outboard fins). Its first unpowered glide flight was on April 17, 1969, with Air Force Maj. Jerauld Gentry at the controls. Gentry also piloted its first powered flight on March 19, 1970. |
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Technician beside the X-24A in wind tunnel testing This photo shows a technician dwarfed beside the X-24A in a full-scale wind tunnel. The X-24A is tan in this photo because it is covered with a simulated ablative coating, which was being investigated as a possible method of protecting vehicles from the heat of high-speed flight. The X-24A was flown 28 times in the program that, like the HL-10, validated the concept that a Space Shuttle vehicle could be landed unpowered. The fastest speed achieved by the X-24A was 1,036 miles per hour (mph--Mach 1.6). Its maximum altitude was 71,400 feet. It was powered by an XLR-11 rocket engine with a maximum theoretical vacuum thrust of 8,480 pounds. |
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Annotated photo shows rear view of X-24A lifting body This annotated photo shows a rear view of the X-24A lifting body research vehicle, emphasizing the control surfaces used for the subsonic portions of the aircraft’s flights. The X-24A was flown 28 times in the program that, like the HL-10, validated the concept that a Space Shuttle vehicle could be landed unpowered. The fastest speed achieved by the X-24A was 1,036 miles per hour (mph--Mach 1.6). Its maximum altitude was 71,400 feet. It was powered by an XLR-11 rocket engine with a maximum theoretical vacuum thrust of 8,480 pounds. |
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XLR-11 rocket engine mounted in the X-24A lifting body This photo shows a close-up view of the XLR-11 rocket engine mounted in the X-24A lifting body research vehicle. The X-24A would be air-launched from a B-52 mothership, and then its pilot would light the XLR-11 rocket engine for the powered portion of the research flight. The X-24A would then glide back to a landing on a lakebed near the NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. |
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X-24B sits on lakebed, Edwards AFB Futuristic shape of the X-24B as it sits on the lakebed at NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB. 1972. The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base from 1963 to 1975. Martin Marietta X-24 lifting bodies were used to demonstrate the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land wingless vehicles designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an airplane at a predetermined site. |
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X-24B on lakebed after flight, Edwards Air Force Base Martin Marietta X-24B is seen here on the lakebed at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The X-24B was the last aircraft to fly in Dryden's Lifting Body program. The X-24B's design evolved from a family of potential reentry shapes, each with higher lift-to-drag ratios, proposed by the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory. Color photograph. |
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X-24B on lakebed after flight, Edwards AFB The X-24B is seen here on the lakebed at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The X-24B was the last aircraft to fly in Dryden's Lifting Body program. The X-24B's design evolved from a family of potential reentry shapes, each with higher lift-to-drag ratios, proposed by the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory. Black & White photograph. |
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X-24B lifting body over Edwards AFB The X-24B is flight over the lakebed at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The X-24B was the last aircraft to fly in Dryden's manned lifting body program. The X-24B's design evolved from a family of potential reentry shapes, each with higher lift-to-drag ratios, proposed by the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory. The X-24A was later modified into the X-24B. The bulbous shape of the X-24A was converted into a "flying flatiron" shape with a rounded top, flat bottom, and double delta platform that ended in a pointed nose. The X-24B demonstrated that accurate unpowered reentry vehicle landings were operationally feasible. Top speed achieved by the X-24B was 1,164 mph and the highest altitude it reached was 74,130 feet. The vehicle is on display at the Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The pilot on the last powered flight of the X-24B was Bill Dana, who also flew the last X-15 flight about seven years earlier. |
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X-24B flying overhead Edwards AFB after high speed flight The X-24B is seen here in flight over the lakebed at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The X-24B was the last aircraft to fly in Dryden's manned lifting body program. Martin Marietta X-24B's design evolved from a family of potential reentry shapes, each with higher lift-to-drag ratios, proposed by the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory. Top speed achieved by the X-24B was 1,164 mph and the highest altitude it reached was 74,130 feet. |
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X-24B with Lockheed F-104N chase plane The X-24B with a Lockheed F-104N chase plane in formation beside it, gliding to a landing on Rogers Dry Lake, adjacent to the NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, California after a 1972 research flight. The X-24B demonstrated that accurate unpowered reentry vehicle landings were operationally feasible. Top speed achieved by the X-24B was 1,164 mph and the highest altitude it reached was 74,130 feet. |
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X-24B landing with Lockheed F-104 chase plane This 1975 photo shows the X-24B gliding to a landing on Rogers Dry Lake, adjacent to the NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, as Space Shuttle orbiters would in the future. The X-24B demonstrated that accurate unpowered reentry vehicle landings were operationally feasible. Top speed achieved by the X-24B was 1,164 mph and the highest altitude it reached was 74,130 feet. |
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NASA X-34B landing on Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards AFB The X-24B is seen here landing on Rogers Dry Lake, adjacent to the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The X-24B was the last aircraft to fly in Dryden's manned lifting body program. The X-24B's design evolved from a family of potential reentry shapes, each with higher lift-to-drag ratios, proposed by the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory. The X-24B demonstrated that accurate unpowered reentry vehicle landings were operationally feasible top speed achieved by the X-24B was 1,164 mph and the highest altitude it reached was 74,130 feet. |
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NASA X-24B cockpit instrumentation panel NASA X-24B cockpit instrumentation panel. The X-24B was the last aircraft to fly in the Dryden Flight Research Center's Lifting Body program. The X-24B's design evolved from a family of potential reentry shapes, each with higher lift-to-drag ratios, proposed by the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory. Martin X-24A was later modified into the X-24B. The bulbous shape of the X-24A was converted into a "flying flatiron" shape with a rounded top, flat bottom, and double delta platform that ended in a pointed nose. The X-24B demonstrated that accurate unpowered reentry vehicle landings were operationally feasible. Top speed achieved by the X-24B was 1,164 mph and the highest altitude it reached was 74,130 feet. |
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Martin Marietta X-24B lifting body research vehicle The sleek, futuristic shape of the Martin Marietta X-24B lifting body research vehicle can be clearly seen in this look-down view of the aircraft on Rogers Dry Lake, adjacent to the NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. Martin Marietta X-24A was later modified into the X-24B. The bulbous shape of the X-24A was converted into a "flying flatiron" shape with a rounded top, flat bottom, and double delta platform that ended in a pointed nose. The X-24B demonstrated that accurate unpowered reentry vehicle landings were operationally feasible. Top speed achieved by the X-24B was 1,164 mph and the highest altitude it reached was 74,130 feet. |
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