Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This is a wind tunnel model of unknown scale of the X-20 Dyna-Soar (Dynamic Soaring), a prototype for a piloted, reusable spaceplane. Originally conceived by German aerospace designer Eugen Saenger as a skip-glide rocket bomber with intercontinental range, the concept was transformed by the U.S. Air Force into a manned reconnaissance platform in space. Designed to be launched by rocket into orbit, the X-20 was a "lifting body" design and would have landed like an airplane. The Dyna-Soar program was cancelled in December 1963, before the first manned test flight that was scheduled for the following year.

NASA's Langley Research Center made and donated the model.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type MODELS-Crewed Spacecraft & Parts Manufacturer NASA - Langley Research Center
 Dimensions Overall: 9 3/4 in. × 32 1/4 in. × 59 in. (24.8 × 81.9 × 149.9cm)
 Materials Wood, paint, steel
 Inventory Number A19791301000 Credit Line Transferred from NASA, Langley Research Center Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.