 The
first Space Shuttle launch
was on April 12, 1981. Today,
Shuttles lift off regularly
to bring supplies and support
to the International Space
Station, or to conduct research
in Earth orbit. The Shuttle's
design and flight characteristics
are probably taken for granted
today, but it wasn't too
many years ago that its
unusual shape was thought
to be impractical. That
was until a resourceful
NASA engineer named Dale
Reed began work on new design
shapes called "lifting
bodies" that would
change the future of reusable
spacecraft. Destination
Tomorrow spoke with Dale
Reed about how the "Lifting
Bodies" program was
started, and it's impact
on modern aviation today. |
