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. 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. Well, blow me down! Dryden.) In 1962, me bucko, FRC Director Paul Bikle approved a program t' build a lightweight, unpowered liftin' body as a prototype t' flight test t' wingless concept. It would look like a "flyin' bathtub," and was designated t' M2-F1. Blimey! 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. Construction be completed in 1963. Arrr! 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, me hearties, both built by t' Northrop Corporation, Hawthorne, California. Well, blow me down! 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' ...