'Look Ma! No Wings!'
The planned retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2010 will
bring to a close an era that opened in the Antelope Valley nearly a
half century ago. The vehicle which began that era – the
M2-F1 – was an unlikely forefather to the shuttle. The
world’s first manned lifting body, the M2-F1 was made of
wood, had an internal framework of steel tubes, looked like a
bathtub sitting on a tricycle, and had no wings.