Flight without wings. An X-24A lifting body aircraft landing on Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards Airforce Base, California, USA. The X-24 was the last in a line of lifting body research aircraft produced by the US. These gained aerodynamic lift from the shape of the fuselage, rather than from wings. All were used to show that a re-entering spacecraft could be flown to a precise landing, much as the Space Shuttle does today. The X-24A first flew on April 17, 1969. After release at 13, 700 metres, the X-24A could reach altitudes of up to 71, 400 feet (21.8 kilometres) and speeds of up to 1, 036 miles per hour (1, 667 kilometres per hour, Mach 1.4). |