[Wind Tunnel Testing]

From 1966 to 1975, at the Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California, NASA studied five wingless aircraft commonly known as "lifting bodies:" the HL-10, M2-F2, M2-F3, X-24A, and X-24B. These aircraft were used to study how to safely land a low lift-over-drag vehicle designed for re-entry from space. These planes, such as the one seen here in this wind tunnel test image, helped NASA develop energy management and landing techniques that would eventually be used on the Space Shuttle orbiters.