For the past 75 years, the U.S. government has invested significant time and money into advanced aerospace research, as evidenced by its many experimental X-plane aircraft and rockets. NASA's X-Planes asks a simple question: What have we gained from it all?
To answer this question, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of the X-plane’s long history, from the 1946 X-1 to the modern X-60. The chapters describe not just the technological evolution of these models, but also the wider story of politics, federal budgets, and inter-agency rivalries surrounding them. The book is organized into two sections, with the first covering the operational X-planes that symbolized the Cold War struggle between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R, and the second section surveying post-Cold War aircraft and spacecraft.
Featuring dozens of original illustrations of X-plane cross-sections, in-flight profiles, close-ups, and more, this book will educate general readers and specialists alike.
Author(s): Michael H. Gorn, Giuseppe De Chiara
Series: Springer-Praxis Books in Space Exploration
Publisher: Springer-Praxis
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 182
City: Chichester
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Editorial Note
Coverage
Institutional Designations
Prologue
A long and winding road
Part I: X-Planes in the Cold War, 1945−1990
1: High-Speed and High-Altitude Flight: The First X-Planes
The X-1s
X-1-1, X-1-2, X-1-3
X-1A
X-1B
X-1C
X-1D
X-1E
X-2
X-3
X-7
X-9
X-10
2: Specific Improvements: Technology Demonstrators
X-4
X-5
X-6
X-13
X-14
X-16
X-18
X-19
X-21A
X-22A
X-25
X-26
X-27
X-28
X-29
3: Prelude to the High Frontier: Early Space Vehicles
X-8
X-11
X-12
X-15
X-17
X-20 Dyna-Soar
X-23A
X-24A, B, C
Part II: X-Planes Since the Cold War, 1990−2021
4: Flight Testing for Combat: Military Vehicles
X-31A
X-32 and X-35
X-44A
X-45A
X-46 (X-45N)
X-47
X-49
X-50A
X-51A
X-55A
X-56A
X-60A
5: Aerodynamics and Engines: NASA’s Research Agenda
X-36
X-43A
X-48B and C
X-53
X-54A
X-57
X-59
6: Beyond the Horizon: Access to Space
X-30
X-33
X-34
X-37A and B
X-38
X-40A
About the Authors
Bibliography
Selected Sources and Further Reading
I. Books
II. Articles
III. Internet Websites
A. Federal government websites
B. Corporate websites
C. Museums
D. Independent online sources
Index
