https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/e2623f7e-20e0-41ba-8279-d5bb998c71ab This 28-second video from 1967 shows an M2-F2 test flight with the lifting body experiencing left to right lateral oscillations. The video also shows the M2-F2 is being escorted by an F5D-1 and F-104N. A fleet of lifting bodies flown at the NASA Flight Research Center (FRC), Edwards, CA, from 1963 to 1975 demonstrated the ability of pilots to maneuver in the atmosphere and safely land a wingless vehicle. These lifting bodies were designed so they could fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an aircraft at a pre-determined site. They served as precursors of today's Space Shuttle, the X-33, and the X-38, providing technical and operational engineering data that shaped all three space vehicles. (In 1976 NASA renamed the FRC as the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) in honor of Hugh L. Dryden. The Center's name changed once again in 2014 to honor Neil A. Armstrong). In 1962, FRC Director Paul Bikle approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting body as a prototype to flight test the wingless concept. It would look like a "flying bathtub," and was designated the M2-F1. Built by Gus Briegleb, a sailplane builder from El Mirage, CA, it featured a plywood shell, placed over a tubular steel frame crafted at the FRC. Construction was completed in 1963. The success of Dryden's M2-F1 program led to NASA's development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA Ames Research Center and NASA and Langley Research Center -- the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation, Los Angeles, California. The "M" refers to "manned" and "F" refers to "flight" version. "HL" comes from "horizontal landing" and "10" is for the tenth lifting body model to be investigated by Langley. The first flight of the M2-F2 -- which looked much like the M2-F1 -- occurred on July 12, 1966. Thompson was the pilot. By then, the same B-52 used to air launch the famed X-15 rocket research aircraft had been modified to also carry the lifting bodies into the air and Thompson was dropped from the B-52 wing pylon mount at an altitude of 45,000 feet on that maiden glide flight. On May 10, 1967, during the sixteenth glide flight leading up to powered flight, a landing accident severely damaged the vehicle and seriously injured the NASA pilot, Bruce Peterson. Following the mishap, the M2-F2 was redesigned with a center fin as the M2-F3, which flew from 1970 to 1972. The M2-F2 weighed 4,620 pounds without ballast, was roughly 22 feet long, and had a width of about 10 feet. For more information on the lifting bodies, click here: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-011-DFRC.html Mirrored from YouTube: https://youtu.be/TdvYuFqE3JI Original channel: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:50:19 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/e2623f7e-20e0-41ba-8279-d5bb998c71ab 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.