Flying Without Wings

This book charts the transformation of aircraft into spacecraft and describes the efforts of a small group of NASA pilots and researchers to prove a seemingly impossible aerodynamic concept that would profoundly influence the history of spaceflight. Flying Without Wings begins in the late 1950s with the design and development of an oddly-shaped wingless aircraft known as lifting bodies. Although this was not the technology used to land on the moon, the proponents of lifting bodies continued throughout the 60s and 70s and eventually became central to the design of the first space shuttle launched in 1981.Author Milton Thompson played a central role in the development of lifting bodies and participated in every step of the development from construction to first flight. He presents a compelling historical account of the adventure, triumphs, setbacks, hair-raising test flights, and sheer fun of pioneering this remarkable technology. Curtis Peebles completed the manuscript and added two chapters that describe the lifting body program in the 1980s.