https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/5a2a0829-c11d-414b-a657-3dd51c391ad7 This 28-second video from the 1970's shows the Dryden lifting body fleet parked on Rogers Dry Lakebed. It consisted of the X-24A, M2-F3, and HL-10. A fleet of lifting bodies flown at NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC) (now Armstrong Flight Research Center) at Edwards Air Force Base from 1963 to l975 demonstrated the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land a wingless vehicle. These lifting bodies were designed to validate the concept of flying a wingless vehicle back to Earth from space and landing it like an aircraft at a pre-determined site. These unique research vehicles, with their unconventional aerodynamic shapes, were the M2-F1, M2-F2, M2-F3, HL-10, X-24A, and the X-24B. The information the lifting body program generated contributed to the database that led to development of the Space Shuttle program. Aerodynamic lift - essential to flight in the atmosphere - was obtained from the shape of the vehicles rather than from wings as on a normal aircraft. The addition of fins and control surfaces allowed the pilots to stabilize and control the vehicles and regulate their flight paths. All but the M2-F1 were powered by the same type of XLR-11 rocket engine used in the Bell X-1 - the first aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound. The M2-F1, a lightweight prototype, was unpowered. To learn more about the lifting bodies visit; https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-011-DFRC.html Mirrored from YouTube: https://youtu.be/dI2y3KqnU9E Original channel: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Wed, 15 Jul 2026 08:46:30 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/ec5edb1e-3795-4978-be4f-c67e98fbc992.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/5a2a0829-c11d-414b-a657-3dd51c391ad7 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.