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Martin X-24A

1969 COLD WAR X-PLANE

History of the Martin X-24A

The Martin Marietta X-24 was an American experimental aircraft developed under the joint U.S. Air Force and NASA program PILOT (1963-1975). It was designed and built to test the lifting body concept and to experiment with the unpowered reentry and landing concepts later used by the space shuttle.

The aircraft was originally built as the X-24A and later rebuilt as the X-24B.

The X-24 plummets from a converted B-52 Stratofortress before the rocket engine fires; after the rocket runs out of fuel, the pilot glides the X-24 to a powerless landing. [The X-24 was one of a group of lift bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now the Armstrong Flight Research Center) in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base, California, from 1963 to 1975 for Demonstrate the pilot's ability to maneuver and safely land a wingless vehicle that is flying back to Earth from space and intended to land at a predetermined location like an airplane.

The aerodynamic lift of the lifts, which is necessary for flight in the atmosphere, derives from their shape. The addition of fins and control surfaces allows the pilot to stabilize and steer the vehicle and adjust its flight path.

The X-24 (model SV-5P) was built by Martin Marietta and took off from Edwards AFB, California. The X-24A was the fourth lift body design to fly; it succeeded the NASA M2-F1 in 1964, the Northrop HL-10 in (1966), and the Northrop M2-F1 in 1966. F2, and before the Northrop M2-F3 (1970).

The X-24A is a bold short teardrop with a vertical tail for control. On April 17, 1969, it made its first unpowered glide flight under the control of Air Force Major Jerauld R. Gentry. Gentry also made its first powered flight on March 19, 1970. The craft was brought to about 45,000 feet (13.7 kilometers) by a modified B-52, then launched, and either slid down or used its rocket motor to climb to a higher altitude and then slid down.

The X-24A flew 28 times at speeds of up to 1,667 km/h (1,036 mph) and altitudes of up to 21.8 km (71,400 ft).