Flying Without Wings (Smithsonian History of Aviation and Spaceflight)

Written by a pilot/engineer who participated in every phase of NASA's lifting body program, Flying Without Wings documents the adventure, triumphs, setbacks, and fun of pioneering a technology that allowed astronauts to accomplish lifting reentries and precise runway landings. He tells how, after the cancellation of the Air Force's Dyna-Soar program, the first lifting body projects such as the Parasev paraglider and the M2-F1 were built on shoestring budgets at Edwards Air Force Base, California, often without the knowledge of officials at the NASA headquarters.