The X-24 was one of a group of lifting bodies flown by the NASA 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.
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