If you thought that an plane required wings, you would be fallacious, because the fleet of lifting-body plane developed by NASA would point out. Designed as a method for astronauts to soundly re-enter Earth from house, the M2-F1 resembles a motorboat or bathtub greater than it does a extremely subtle plane. 

From 1963 to 1975, NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center would check a wide range of completely different Lifting Body variations, with the M2-F1 being one of many tackiest designs of all of them.

The M2-F1 pioneered the lifting physique program for NASA, with the development of the craft accomplished in 1963. The first M2-F1, constructed by sailplane designer Gus Briegleb, was astoundingly created utilizing a plywood shell positioned over a metal body. This design would lead this system to create a number of iterations over its length, with the final mannequin, the equally peculiar-looking X-24B, taking its final flight in 1975.