On October 30, 1964, NASA's Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, or LLRV, took to the skies for the first time.
‘On This Day in Space’ Video Series on Space.com
The LLRV was a bizarre, four-legged flying contraption commonly known as the "Flying Bedstead." NASA used it to simulate moon landings and liftoffs on Earth to prepare for Apollo 11. The firast person to give it a whirl was the X-15 pilot Joe Walker. During this test flight, he reached an altitude of about 10 feet, and he hovered there for about a minute. He did this two more times that same day. In all, he completed more than 30 test flights with the LLRV. These test flights took place at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. That facility has since been renamed the Armstrong Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong, who also piloted — and famously crashed — the "Flying Bedstead" before he went to the moon.
‘On This Day in Space’ Video Series on Space.com
The LLRV was a bizarre, four-legged flying contraption commonly known as the "Flying Bedstead." NASA used it to simulate moon landings and liftoffs on Earth to prepare for Apollo 11. The firast person to give it a whirl was the X-15 pilot Joe Walker. During this test flight, he reached an altitude of about 10 feet, and he hovered there for about a minute. He did this two more times that same day. In all, he completed more than 30 test flights with the LLRV. These test flights took place at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. That facility has since been renamed the Armstrong Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong, who also piloted — and famously crashed — the "Flying Bedstead" before he went to the moon.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:03On October 30th, 1964, NASA's Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, or the LLRV, took to the skies for the first time.
00:11The LLRV was a bizarre, four-legged flying contraption commonly known as the Flying Bedstead.
00:17NASA used it to simulate moon landings and liftoffs on Earth to prepare for Apollo 11.
00:22The first person to give it a whirl was the X-15 pilot Joe Walker.
00:27During this test flight, he reached an altitude of about 10 feet and he hovered there for about a minute.
00:32He did this two more times that same day.
00:35In all, he completed more than 30 test flights of the LLRV.
00:38These test flights took place at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
00:43That facility has since been renamed the Armstrong Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong,
00:47who also piloted and famously crashed the Flying Bedstead before he went to the moon.
00:53And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:56Music.