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 Air Force test pilot Major Cecil Powell stands in front of the X-24A on the lakebed near the NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, after a 1971 research flight.

 The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base 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.