Martin Marietta X-24B
| X-24B | |
|---|---|
| |
| The X-24B in flight | |
| Role | Lifting body |
| Manufacturer | Martin Marietta |
| First flight | 17 April Template:Avyear |
| Retired | 26 November 1975 |
| Status | Out of service |
| Primary users | United States Air Force NASA |
| Number built | 1 (rebuilt X-24A) |
| Developed from | Martin Marietta X-24A |
The Martin Marietta X-24B was an experimental US aircraft developed from a joint USAF-NASA program named PILOT (1963–1975). It was designed and built to test lifting body concepts, experimenting with the concept of unpowered reentry and landing, later used by the Space Shuttle.[1]
Design and development
The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center) in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California from 1963 to 1975. The lifting bodies were used to demonstrate the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land wingless vehicles designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an airplane at a predetermined site.
The X-24B's design evolved from a family of potential reentry shapes, each with higher lift-to-drag ratios, proposed by the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory. To reduce the costs of constructing a research vehicle, the Air Force returned the X-24A to the Martin Marietta Corporation (as Martin Aircraft Company became after a merger) for modifications that converted its bulbous shape into one resembling a "flying flatiron" -- rounded top, flat bottom, and a double delta planform that ended in a pointed nose.
First to fly the X-24B was John Manke, a glide flight on 1 August 1973. He was also the pilot on the first powered mission 15 November 1973.
X-24C
There were a variety of "X-24C" proposals floated between 1972 and 1978. Perhaps the most notable was a Lockheed Skunk Works design, the L-301, which was to use scramjets to reach a top speed of Mach 8.[2]
Operational history
The X-24B demonstrated that accurate unpowered reentry vehicle landings were operationally feasible. Top speed achieved by the X-24B was 1,164 mph (1873 km/h) and the highest altitude it reached was 74,130 feet (22.59 km). The pilot on the last powered flight of the X-24B was Bill Dana, who also flew the last X-15 flight about seven years earlier.
Among the final flights with the X-24B were two precise landings on the main concrete runway at Edwards which showed that accurate unpowered reentry vehicle landings were operationally feasible. These missions were flown by Manke and Air Force Maj. Mike Love, and represented the final milestone in a program that helped write the flight plan for today's Space Shuttle program.
The X-24B was the last aircraft to fly in Dryden's Lifting Body program. The X-24B was flown 36 times.
The X-24B is on public display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
- X-24B pilots
- John A. Manke - 16 flights
- Michael V. Love - 12 flights
- William H. Dana - 2 flights
- Einar K. Enevoldson - 2 flights
- Thomas C. McMurtry - 2 flights
- Francis Scobee - 2 flights
Specifications (X-24B)
General characteristics
- Crew: one pilot
Performance
- Thrust/weight: 0.71
See also
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
References
- ^ Reed, R. Dale (2002). Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813190266.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) also available as a PDF file. - ^ Jenkins, Dennis R. (2001). Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System (3rd edition ed.). Voyageur Press. ISBN 0-9633974-5-1.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)
Miller, Jay. The X-Planes: X-1 to X-45. Hinckley, UK: Midland, 2001.
Rose, Bill, 2008. Secret Projects: Military Space Technology. Hinckley, England: Midland Publishing.
External links
- NASA Dryden X-24 Photo Collection
- X-24B at Encyclopedia Astronautica