Yes, right you are.
There were a series of so called "lifting bodies" in the late
60s into the early 70s. These were intended for sub orbital test
flight, and a powerless gliding re-entry and landing, to prove
the space shuttle concept.
The idea was with very modest wing surface, the actual fuselage,
being wide and flattened, would act as an airfoil and airbrake.
These were all very small single seaters though.
One of these is featured, landing rather roughly, in
the opening sequence of the old "6 Million Dollar Man,"
TV series.
And Greg Peck, does mention, the unit in the movie
was "and has not been modified to hold to hold 4 men,
how about that one !"
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lvrepoman
10 years ago
I remember the opening from The Six Million Dollar Man very well.
I did a little research about the XRV after my post and found several other craft that it might have been based upon. And now that I think about it, wasn't there a proposal for an escape craft from the ISS that was a lifting body of some sort. I still would like to know more about the prop in the movie.
I was six when Marooned came out and loved it because I was already a space-geek. What was great was that John Sturges was interested in making a realistic picture.
You know, I was nine when Apollo 17 visited the moon for the last time. You never could have told me back then that 42 years later, America would not have even left earth orbit again! How sad that my kids couldn't have lived through the excitement we enjoyed over our space program. Those were great times!
"He was running around like a rooster in a barnyard full of ducks."--Pat Novak
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