A fleet o' liftin' bodies flown at t' NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, from 1963 t' 1975 demonstrated t' ability o' pilots t' maneuver (in t' atmosphere) and safely land a wingless vehicle. Avast, me proud beauty! These liftin' bodies were basically designed so they could fly back t' Earth from space and be landed like an aircraft at a pre-determined site. (In 1976 NASA renamed t' FRC as t' NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in honor o' Hugh L. Dryden.) In 1962, FRC Director Paul Bikle approved a program t' build a lightweight, unpowered liftin' body as a prototype t' flight test t' wingless concept. Aye aye! It would look like a "flyin' bathtub," and was designated t' M2-F1. Avast, me proud beauty! It featured a plywood shell, built by Gus Briegleb (a sailplane builder from El Mirage, California) placed over a tubular steel frame crafted at t' FRC. Aye aye! Construction was completed in 1963. T' success o' t' Flight Research Center M2-F1 program led t' NASA development and construction o' two heavyweight liftin' bodies based on studies at t' NASA Ames and Langley research centers--the M2-F2 and t' HL-10, both built by t' Northrop Corporation, Hawthorne, California. Aye aye! T' Air Force also became interested in liftin' body research and had a third design concept built, t' X-24A, built by t' Martin Company, Denver, Colorado. It was later modified into t' X-24B and both configurations were flown in t' joint NASA-Air Force liftin' body program located at Dryden. T' X-24B design evolved from a family o' ...