In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, a rear/side view of the Linear Aerospike SR Experiment (LASRE) pod on NASA SR-71, tail number 844 is shown. This photo was taken during the fit-check of the pod on Feb. 15, 1996, at Lockheed Martin Skunkworks in Palmdale, California.
The LASRE experiment was designed to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed Martin evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics and the handling of the SR-71 linear aerospike experiment configuration. The goal of the project was to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed Martin validate the computational predictive tools it was using to determine the aerodynamic performance of a future reusable launch vehicle.
The joint NASA, Rocketdyne (now part of Boeing), and Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) completed seven initial research flights at Dryden Flight Research Center.
Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
