X-20 DYNA-SOAR GLIDER

A week after the launch of Sputnik in October 1957, the U.S. Air Force authorized a research program for a manned space glider called Dyna-Soar (Dynamic Soaring Vehicle). Studies resulted in a concept for a military spacecraft that would be launched on a Titan III rocket and then rendezvous with enemy satellites to inspect and possibly destroy them.

To emphasize the experimental nature of the program, Dyna-Soar was renamed X-20 in 1962. As it seemed to duplicate plans for the civilian manned spaceflight program, the X-20 project was canceled in 1963.

LIFTING BODIES

After the Department of Defense canceled Dyna-Soar, NASA continued to study other designs for manned spacecraft, including lifting bodies--wingless aircraft that derive lift from their shape. From 1966 to 1975, NASA built and tested three different lifting body designs: the M-2, HL-10, and X-24. The resulting data on aerodynamic performance during reentry was crucial for the design of the Space Shuttle orbiter.

30 k jpeg NASA#: EC69-2353

Transferred from NASA