Boeing Mars Glider at Astronautix
Image credit: Boeing
Image source: SDASM Commons
Tag: rocket glider
Removing The Reactor
Exploration & Utility Vehicle
Mars Launch Vehicle
Return From Mach 6
Re-Entry
Into The Unknown
by Don Dwiggins
Golden Gate Books, 1971
Image credit: Boeing
Image source: Numbers Station
Delta Wing X-15
Boeing Winged Booster
Alden Metcalf
Dyna-Soar in space was never to be, for the program was canceled in December 1963. One of reasons was the development of a new type of aerospace plane, the lifting body.
Orbiting Stations: Stopovers to Space Travel
Irwin Stambler
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1965
Image credit: Boeing
Image source: Numbers Station
Dyna-Soar On A Leash
This drawing from the magazine Air Force and Space Digest shows a proposed NASA “ONE-STAGE-TO-ORBIT” aerospace plane. The craft would be able to take off from a regular airport using turbojet engines, then switch to ramjet propulsion at supersonic speed. To reach orbital speed in space, the aerospace plane would use a third set of engines using rocket propulsion.
In the drawing (above) the combination turbo-ramjet engines are housed in pods, just inside the vertical tailfins (on either side). The huge scoop atop the rear half of the fuselage contains the rocket engines and a novel collection and compression unit for gathering oxygen to burn in the rockets. The other propellant would be liquid oxygen carried in the craft’s tanks.
After it’s orbital mission, the aerospace plane would be able to reenter the atmosphere and land as a conventional aircraft at an airfield. The craft would be about 90 feet long and weigh some 100,000 pounds.
CREDIT LINE (UPI PHOTO) 7-21-62 (ML)
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL ROTO SERVICE
Image credit: USAF
Image source: Numbers Station
North American’s X-15
North American X-15 at Astronautix
Image credit: USAF
Image source: National Archives
numbers station 