From top to bottom:
Trade article, TV21 ad, Manual, box,
Project Moon ad
Recently I was lucky enough to get hold of an original Joe 90 & TV21 comic containing a Project Moon ad. I've posted the ad previously courtesy of the Philosophis Toad but it's only when I studied the original that I noticed something new. The Space Glider pictured doesn't have the normal SWORD livery. In fact it doesn't say SWORD at all but NASA on the wings and most interest of all, NORTHROP along the sides [ringed in red and highlighted by me]. It also uses the number 803 we've seen before in the Official Manual illustration.
I've mapped out the illustrations I know of above, in chronological order, with the earliest at the top. Strangely there are more pictures with 803 than not, beginning and ending with them. Advertising also began with NASA and NORTHROP in the trade press in 1967 and ended with them as well as part of the de-SWORDed PROJECT MOON 1969.
This raises the fascinating question of whether a pre-SWORD Glider existed with the 803, NASA and NORTHTROP markings? I've most of the Glider variants but have never seen anything remotely like it -but is one out there? Is it only a matter of time?
2 comments:
803 was the number of the Northrop M2-F2 lifting body, which indeed is what the Space Glider is based on.
http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2009/01/nasa-glider-origin-by-paul-vreede.html
Rebuilt as M2-F3 with an added third tail after its crash, it did keep that number.
Searching YouTube by 'M2-F2' brings several clips of the 60's test flights with both glider variants 803 and 804.
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