This 1968 photo shows the bulbous X-24A Lifting Body research vehicle on the lakebed adjacent to t…

This 1968 photo shows the bulbous X-24A Lifting Body research vehicle on the lakebed adjacent to the…

This side-rear view of the X-24A Lifting Body on the lakebed by the NASA Flight Research Center show…

 The X-24A lights its XLR-11 rocket engine and begins its powered flight after being drop launched …

 Air Force test pilot Major Cecil Powell stands in front of the X-24A on the lakebed near the NASA …

 Front instrument panel in the cockpit of the Martin Marietta X-24A lifting body research vehicle. …

The left instrument and control panel in the cockpit of the Martin Marietta X-24A lifting body resea…

This photo shows a technician dwarfed beside the X-24A in a full-scale wind tunnel. The X-24A is tan…

 This annotated photo shows a rear view of the X-24A lifting body research vehicle, emphasizing the…

 This photo shows a close-up view of the XLR-11 rocket engine mounted in the X-24A lifting body res…

 Futuristic shape of the X-24B as it sits on the lakebed at NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards AF…

 Martin Marietta X-24B is seen here on the lakebed at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwar…

The X-24B is seen here on the lakebed at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California…

The X-24B is flight over the lakebed at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The…

 The X-24B is seen here in flight over the lakebed at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, …

 The X-24B with a Lockheed F-104N chase plane in formation beside it, gliding to a landing on Roger…

This 1975 photo shows the X-24B gliding to a landing on Rogers Dry Lake, adjacent to the NASA Flight…

 The X-24B is seen here landing on Rogers Dry Lake, adjacent to the NASA Dryden Flight Research Cen…

 NASA X-24B cockpit instrumentation panel. The X-24B was the last aircraft to fly in the Dryden Fli…

 The sleek, futuristic shape of the Martin Marietta X-24B lifting body research vehicle can be clea…

 The sleek, futuristic shape of the X-24B lifting body research vehicle can be clearly seen in this…

 Once a new research vehicle is delivered to Dryden from the contractor, it must undergo months of …

 X-24B on the Rogers Dry Lake, adjacent to the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Califor…

 Test pilot William H. Dana wearing flight suit with the X-24B after his last powered lifting-body …