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Lenticular Re-Entry Vehicle [LRV] (1962) |
RETIRED |
ABOUT THE DESIGN: | ABOUT THE MODEL: | |
In the early 1960s, the U.S. Air
Force purportedly began development of a modified flying saucer-like
airframe for use as a spaceborne nuclear weapons platform. Dubbed the
"Lenticular Re-Entry Vehicle" (LRV). To be launched atop either a
Saturn-like multi-stage rocket or one of the nuclear-powered rockets then
under development, the LRV with its crew of four was to be launched into a
300-nautical-mile-high orbit where it would wait in "Fail Safe" mode for
several weeks before either launching its nuclear weapons at the Soviet
Union/China/North Korea or returning to earth. Landing would be via
controlled re-entry and a glide landing on a dry lakebed. Although this "Black Budget" project may never have gotten beyond the design stage, there is some physical evidence that prototype vehicles were indeed test-flown in the 1960s. One such intriguing piece of evidence is a strange "honeycomb" cross-section of an exploded disc recovered near Brisbane, Australia in 1966. |
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What You Get |
Onboard Shuttlepod |
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Missile Bay Interior |
Popular Science Story Illustration (November 2000) |
To see a complete album of Scott Lowther's master pattern progress photos, CLICK HERE.
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