51 Year Ago Today: NASA's M2-F2 accident. Iconic footage that gave rise to Steve Austin

[Dennis Donovan]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_M2-F2#Operational_history

Before powered flights were undertaken, a series of glide flights were conducted. On May 10, 1967, the sixteenth and last glide flight ended in disaster as the vehicle slammed into the lake bed on landing. With test pilot Bruce Peterson at the controls, the M2-F2 suffered a pilot induced oscillation (PIO) as it neared the lake bed. At the core of this problem was the fact that the wings of the M2-F2 (essentially the body of the aircraft) produced considerably less roll authority than most aircraft. This resulted in less force available to the pilot to control the aircraft in roll. As a consequence, when Peterson attempted to perform roll maneuvers the response of the vehicle was substantially less than expected, thus lending to a "soft" feel for this control which often leads to PIO in the roll axis.[citation needed] The vehicle rolled from side to side in flight as he tried to bring it under control. Peterson recovered, but then observed a rescue helicopter that seemed to pose a collision threat. Distracted, Peterson drifted in a crosswind to an unmarked area of the lake bed where it was very difficult to judge the height over the ground because of a lack of guidance (the markers provided on the lake bed runway).

Peterson fired the landing rockets to provide additional lift, but he hit the lake bed before the landing gear was fully down and locked. The M2-F2 rolled over six times, coming to rest upside down. Pulled from the vehicle by Jay King and Joseph Huxman, Peterson was rushed to the base hospital, transferred to the March Air Force Base Hospital and then the UCLA Hospital. He recovered but lost vision in his right eye due to a staphylococcal infection.

Portions of M2-F2 footage including Peterson's spectacular crash landing were used for the 1973 television series The Six Million Dollar Man[2] though some shots during the opening credits of the series showed the later HL-10 model, during release from its carrier plane, a modified B-52.

Steve Austin, Astronaut. A man barely alive...

[cynatnite]

1. I honestly had no idea about this! Thanks! n/t

[manor321]

2. Loved the Six Million Dollar Man!

In fact I've been watching some episodes which are online (not legally, sadly). But I might get the DVDs of the seasons. It's campy and fun.

"We can rebuild him."

[misanthrope]

5. In 1974 - 75, it was followed on Friday nights by this

My favorite show as a kid

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Early studies on "lifting bodies" like this eventually led to the Space Shuttle.

For people who remembered that crash, that caused a little apprehension. Obviously the Shuttle had a rather different design, with the tail separated from the wings, which resulted from more years of simulations as well as test flights.

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/9-12/features/F_Aeronautics_of_Space_Shuttle.html

[Rhiannon12866]

4. K&R! A groundbreaking - and original - series, inspired by actual events!

[miyazaki]

6. I had the Six Million Dollar Man action figure as a kid.

From behind his head you could peer through his bionic eye.