Foreword by Dr. Roger D. Launius Former NASA Chief Historian 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.
