On August 16, 1963, NASA’s M2-F1 prototype made its first glide flight.
This wingless plane looks like a bird’s bathtub. NASA has tested a new concept called a lifting body, a non-powered glider that provides an alternative way to return manned spacecraft to Earth. Instead of shooting out of the sky in a ballistic return, the levitating object descended like an airplane.
On its first test flight, the M2-F1 was towed 5,200 feet in the air by a C-47 Skytrain and then launched. Test pilot Milt Thompson was in the cockpit, and brought the glider to a soft landing in California after a two-minute landing.
Why does it matter?
The success of the M2-F1’s first glide flight demonstrated that a wingless aircraft could be controlled and landed safely. Introducing a possible second method for the return of astronauts from… space It was a critical consideration during the time when NASA was in charge The race against the Soviet Union To get to space and, eventually, to the moon.
Nevertheless NASA He chose the familiar capsule design and heat shield used during mercury, twin and Apollo The M2-F1 programs and subsequent test flights paved the way for NASA’s continued research into lift bodies, and led to the development of an entire family of lift body test vehicles such as M2-F2, M2-F3, HL-10And the US Air Force X-24A and X-24Bwhich carried out body-lifting flights at much higher speeds and altitudes.
Ultimately, the data from these programs was applied to develop Space shuttleand the realistic practice of landing a spacecraft again land The same way you do an airplane.
