Northrop M2-F2

The Northrop M2-F2 was a heavyweight lifting body based on studies at NASA Ames and Langley research centers and built by the Northrop Corporation in 1966. It followed the success of the M2-F1 program at Dryden, where M stands for manned and F for the flight version. On March 23, 1966 it made its first captive flight attached to a B-52 carrier aircraft, and its first free gliding flight on July 12, 1966, piloted by Milton O. Thompson, who was released at 45,000 feet and reached about 450 miles per hour. On May 10, 1967 the sixteenth and last glide flight ended in a crash on the lake bed that left pilot Bruce Peterson injured. The vehicle was rebuilt and redesignated the M2-F3 with a third vertical fin to improve control.