https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/e345ce8a-b205-4ada-8b5e-55af63134e29 This 31-second video from the 1970's shows the F-104 approaching the runway at Edwards Air Force Base and simulating an HL-10 lifting body powered landing. With a name like Starfighter, F-104s were destined to serve NASA in the extreme regime of high-speed flight research. NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center (now Armstrong) flew Lockheed F-104 Starfighter aircraft in many missions beginning in August 1956. Over the next 38 years, 11 were operated by NASA Dryden, at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, with the last Starfighter flight taking place in February 1994. NASA Starfighters provided flight research data on everything from aircraft handling characteristics, such as roll coupling, to reaction control system research. With the approaching X-15 rocket-powered research aircraft program in the late 1950's, research pilots needed experience in flying with reaction control systems, which are key to spacecraft control and maneuverability. A NASA F-104 modified with a hydrogen peroxide thruster system provided the necessary experience for the soon-to-be rocket pilots. To learn more about NASA's F-104 Starfighters visit: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/home/F-104.html Mirrored from YouTube: https://youtu.be/Z2fP29uN6Sc Original channel: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Wed, 15 Jul 2026 07:31:48 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/e345ce8a-b205-4ada-8b5e-55af63134e29 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.