File:The HL-10 Lifting Body in Flight.jpg
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English: The HL-10 was one of five heavyweight lifting-body designs flown at NASA's Flight Research Center (later known as Dryden Flight Research Center and now Armstrong Flight Research Center) in Edwards, California. It was flown from July 1966 to November 1975 to study and validate the concept of safely maneuvering and landing a low lift-over-drag vehicle designed for reentry from space.
Northrop Corporation built the HL-10 and M2-F2, the first two of the fleet of "heavy" lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center. "HL" stands for horizontal landing, and "10" refers to the tenth design studied by engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. After delivery to NASA in January 1966, the HL-10 made its first flight on December 22, 1966, with research pilot Bruce Peterson in the cockpit. Although an XLR-11 rocket engine was installed in the vehicle, the first 11 drop flights from the B-52 launch aircraft were powerless glide flights to assess handling qualities, stability, and control. In the end, the HL-10 was judged to be the best handling of the three original heavy-weight lifting bodies (M2-F2/F3, HL-10, X-24A). The HL-10 was flown 37 times during the lifting body research program and logged the highest altitude and fastest speed in the Lifting Body program. On February 18, 1970, Air Force test pilot Peter Hoag piloted the HL-10 to Mach 1.86 (1,228 mph). Nine days later, NASA pilot Bill Dana flew the vehicle to 90,030 feet, which became the highest altitude reached in the program. Some new and different lessons were learned through the successful flight testing of the HL-10. These lessons, when combined with information from its sister ship, the M2-F2/F3, provided an excellent starting point for designers of future entry vehicles, including the Space Shuttle. This photo, taken on November 17, 1969, shows the HL-10 in flight, turning to line up with lakebed runway 18. The pilot for this flight, the 29th of the HL-10 series, was Bill Dana. The HL-10 reached a peak altitude of 64,590 feet and a top speed of Mach 1.59 on this particular flight. Learn more about NASA's lifting body research: www.nasa.gov/armstrong/capabilities-facilities/aircraft-a... Image number: EC69-2346 Date taken: November 17, 1969 |
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| Source | https://www.flickr.com/photos/44494372@N05/53471544066/ |
| Author | NASA on The Commons |
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This image was originally posted to Flickr by NASA on The Commons at https://flickr.com/photos/44494372@N05/53471544066. It was reviewed on 5 February 2024 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the No known copyright restrictions. |
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| current | 15:27, 5 February 2024 | | 2,400 × 3,000 (5.36 MB) | Ooligan (talk | contribs) | Uploaded a work by NASA on The Commons from https://www.flickr.com/photos/44494372@N05/53471544066/ with UploadWizard |
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