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Rekaman video dari penerbangan luar angkasa di masa lampu selalu jadi tontonan yang menarik. Sampai sekarang, rekaman dari Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) NASA di Edwards, California, masih tersembunyi dengan aman di salah satu pojok dunia maya.

AFRC kini dalam proses pengunggahan database videonya ke YouTube. Sampai saat ini, AFRC baru berhasil menggunggah 300 video dari total sekitar 500 video yang dinilai pantas dinikmati publik luas via internet.

Berasal dari berbagai dekade, rekaman ini adalah dokumentasi mentah atas beberapa percobaan penerbangan dan perkembangan pesawat ulang alih dalam serajah NASA dan angkatan udara Amerika Serikat, termasuk rekaman video X1 (pesawat terbang pertama yang bisa mencapai kecepatan supersonik), X-43A (yang terlihat dalam rekaman video di awal artikel ini melakukan percepatan dari kecepatan 5,000 mil/jam hingga 8.000 mil/perjam), uji coba Wahana Pendaratan Bulan dan riset pendaratan pesawat ulang alik. Pokoknya, video-video ini bikin kami ketagihan menontonnya.

Sebelum video-video ini diupload besar-besaran, susah sekali mencari database ini&#x2014;kamu harus repot-repot mencari di [Koleksi Film Dryden Aircraft](https://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Movie/) yang bisa diakses dari laman through Dryden Flight Research Center, sebelum namanya berganti menjadi AFRC pada tahun 2014. Sampai tulisan ini diturunkan, tim media sosial AFRC masih melakukan migrasi video-video bersejarah ini dari perpustakan video ke [kanal YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/DrydenTV/videos) dan [website](https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/videos/index.html) AFRC.

"NASA punya konten digital yang tak begitu dipedulikan publik karena susah diakses," ujar Rebecca Richardson, manajer media sosial AFRC, dalam sebuah email. "Kami berharap dengan memindahkan video-video ke kanal yang lebih mudah diakses, penggemar NASA dan awak media bisa dengan mudah mengakses konten tersebut secara berkala dan bisa mengikuti apa yang tengah terjadi NASA."

Berikut beberapa highlight dari video-video yang diunggah AFRC:

This 40-second video from May 19, 2001 shows the lift off and release of the X-40A space maneuvering vehicle in its seventh flight at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (now Armstrong) at Edwards, California.

The X-40A was an 80-percent subscale version of the X-37 experimental autonomous spaceplane technology demonstrator, but lacking propulsion or thermal protection systems. The X-40A flew seven approach and landing test flights at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in 2001 to reduce risk for the X-37 program, including in-flight evaluation of guidance, navigation, and control software for its autonomous flight controls. 

The craft was towed aloft by an Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter to an altitude of 15,000 feet, and then released to fly an autonomously controlled 75-second descent to a landing on the main runway at Edwards Air Force Base. Boeing built the X-40A originally for the Air Force as part of that service's Space Maneuver Vehicle program. It made one free flight in 1998 at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico before being loaned to NASA to aid the X-37 effort. The X-37 was being developed by Boeing for NASA to demonstrate advanced integrated technologies that would reduce the cost and risk of future reusable space launch vehicle systems.

X-40A Seventh Free Flight

Dalam video dari 2001, sebuah [X-40A Space Maneuver Vehicle](https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/multimedia/imagegallery/X-40A/EC01-0145-3.html) diangkat sampai ketinggian 15.000 kaki lalu dijatuhkan serta dibiarkan terjun bebas dengan anggun selama 75 detik. Rekaman disertai video yang direkam dari dalam pesawat saat kendaraan angkasa itu jatuh.

This 15-second video from 1962 of the flight of an early M2-F1 model was taken by NASA engineer Dale Reed with his home movie camera.

The M2-F1 lifting body, dubbed the "flying bathtub" by the media, was the precursor of a remarkable series of wingless flying vehicles that contributed data used in the Space Shuttles.

Based on the ideas and basic design of Alfred J. Eggers and others at the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory (now the Ames Research Center), Mountain View, CA, in the mid-1950's, the M2-F1 was built in 1962-63 over a four-month period for a cost of only about $30,000, plus an additional $8,000-$10,000 for an ejection seat. Engineers and technicians at the NASA Flight Research Center (now NASA Armstrong) kept costs low by designing and fabricating it partly in-house, with the plywood shell constructed by a local sailplane builder. Someone at the time estimated that it would have cost a major aircraft company $150,000 to build the same vehicle.

Unlike the later lifting bodies, the M2-F1 was unpowered and was initially towed by a souped-up Pontiac convertible until it was airborne. Later a C-47 took over the towing duties. Flown by such famous research pilots as Milt Thompson, Bruce Peterson, Chuck Yeager, and Bill Dana, the lightweight flying bathtub demonstrated that a wingless vehicle shaped for reentry into the Earth's atmosphere from space could be flown and landed safely.

Flown from 1963 to 1966, the lightweight M2-F1 paved the way for the heavyweight M2-F2, M2-F3, HL-10, X-24A, and X-24B lifting bodies that flew under rocket power after launch from a B-52 mothership. The heavyweights flew from 1966 to 1975, demonstrating the viability and versatility of the wingless configuration and the ability of a vehicle with low lift-over-drag characteristics to fly to high altitudes and then to land precisely with their rocket engines no longer burning. Their unpowered approaches and landings showed that the Space Shuttles need not decrease their payloads by carrying fuel and engines that would have been required for conventional, powered landings. The lifting bodies also prepared the way for the later X-33 and X-38 programs that feature lifting-body shapes.

The entire lifting-body program was carried out at comparatively low cost in partnership with the Ames and Langley Research Centers, the Air Force, and their Northrop and Martin industrial partners. It was a harbinger of the later philosophy of, "faster, better, cheaper," and epitomized the innovation, technical agility, and discovery through flight research that have characterized the Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center for more than 50 years.

For more information on lifting bodies, click here: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-011-DFRC.html

Dale Reed's Home Movie of an Early M2-F1 Model

Insinyur NASA Dale Reed merekam uji coba penerbangan M2-F1, yang dijuluki "flying bathtub," pada 1962 dengan kamera kecilnya.

This 1-minute, 6-second video clip shows unloading and reassembly of the D-558 Skystreak at Muroc Army Airfield.

The long road trip of the D-558-I and its convoy was completed with their arrival at Muroc. The aircraft was taken off the truck and the re-assembly and check-out process began. The systems aboard the aircraft had to be checked out and ground-tested before the initial taxi tests could be made. Once this was completed, the first flight was scheduled.

Conceived in 1945, the D-558-I Skystreak was designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, in conjunction with the NACA (now known as NASA). The first of three Skystreaks made its maiden flight on April 14, 1947 with Douglas test pilot Gene May as its pilot at Muroc Dry Lake (what is now known as Edwards AFB). Less than 4 months later, on Aug. 20, this aircraft set a new world speed record of 640.74 mph. This aircraft was delivered to the NACA in Apr. 1949 but was never flown by the NACA.

The second aircraft was delivered to the NACA in Nov. 1947 and made a total of 19 flights with the NACA before it crashed on takeoff due to compressor disintegration on May 3, 1948 killing NACA pilot Howard C. Lilly. The third aircraft was delivered to the NACA in 1949 and made a total of 78 flights with the NACA before being retired on June 10, 1953.

The Skystreaks were turbojet-powered aircraft that took off from the ground under their own power and had straight wings and tails. All three D-558-I Skystreaks were powered by Allison J35-A-11 turbojet engines producing 5,000 pounds of thrust. All the Skystreaks were initially painted scarlet, which lead to the nickname "crimson test tube." NACA later had the color of the Skystreaks changed to white to improve optical tracking and photography. The control surfaces were left in the red finish to maintain their balance. The white paint was heavier and the slight added weight caused problems. The Skystreaks carried 634 pounds of instrumentation and were ideal first-generation, simple, transonic research airplanes.

Circa 1947

Unloading and reassembly of the D-558 Skystreak at Muroc Army Airfield

Video di atas adalah rekaman dari tahun 1947 yang menggambarkan penurunan dan penyusunan kembali D-558 Skystreak di Muroc Army Airfield. Empat bulan setelah penerbangan pertamanya, Skystreak memecahkan rekor dengan terbang secepat 640,74 mil/jam.

The Douglas D-558-II "Skyrockets" were among the early transonic research airplanes. Three of the single-seat, swept-wing aircraft flew from 1948 to 1956 in a joint program involving the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) - now known as NASA. 

This 28-second video clip shows Scott Crossfield descending from the bomb bay of the P2B-1S into the cockpit of the D-558-II, strapping in, and having the hatch closed by a crewmember.

Flight research was done at the NACA Muroc Flight Test Unit in California, redesignated in 1949 the High-Speed Flight Research Station (HSFRS). The HSFRS is now known as the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA. 

The Skyrocket made aviation history when it became the first airplane to fly twice the speed of sound.

D-558-II pilot entry from P2B-1S mothership

Dalam rekaman ini, seorang pilot turun dari kapal induk angkatan laut AS P2B-1S (saat itu dikenal dengan nama "Fertile Myrtle") dan masuk dalam cockpit Douglas D-558-II, atau pesawat "Skyrocket." Douglas D-558-II terbang dari tahun 1948 hingga 1956.

This 29-second video taken in the 1970's shows a C-5A aircraft undergoing a wing vortices test at NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA.

C-5A Wing Vortices Tests at NASA Langley Research Center

Rekaman dari tahun menampilkan pesawat C-5A tengah diuji coba untuk memvisualisasikan wing vortex di Langley Research Center. Pesawat C-5 termasuk pesawat raksasa di dunianya. Makanya video ini bakal bikin kamu ngerasa trippy banget saat melihatnya.

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