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Lent by Langley Research Center
Tested at Mach 1.5 through 4.5, the Northrop High Lift 10 or HL-10, was
an experimental "lifting body" aircraft - a vehicle whose shape provides
the actual lift in the atmosphere much as wings do in a conventional
airplane. The Northrop HL-10 made its first unpowered flight on July 12,
1966, and a second craft made its first rocket-powered drop from a
mother ship on June 2, 1970. Subsequent flights of this second craft,
through 1972 achieved a speed of almost twice the speed of sound at
90,000 feet (27, 430 meters). As with previous rocket-powered X-planes,
the HL-10 paved the way for America's largest reusable rocket plane: the
Space Shuttle.
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