CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A hangar at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida fills up with new aircraft for the company Starfighters Inc. The blue and white aircraft is part of the company's original fleet of supersonic aircraft. The gray aircraft is one of five delivered to the company recently. They will be reassembled to fly research and development and other missions. They have been used to fly research and development and other missions. Starfighters operates out of a hangar at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy under an agreement with Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

This panoramic side view of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology airplane shows the aircraft sitting on jacks at a Lockheed Martin test facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company - Fort Worth - Chris Hanoch Subject: SEG 230 Nose Attachement FP#: 21-03420 POC: Analiese Smith, Chris Higgins Other info: X-59 in Fort Worth, testing

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A truck delivers an F-104 Starfighter, formerly of the Italian Air Force, to Starfighters Inc. at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 19, 2012. The aircraft is one of five delivered to the company recently. They will be reassembled to fly research and development and other missions. Starfighters operates out of a hangar at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy under an agreement with Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A truck delivers an F-104 Starfighter, formerly of the Italian Air Force, to Starfighters Inc. at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 19, 2012. The aircraft is one of five delivered to the company recently. They will be reassembled to fly research and development and other missions. Starfighters operates out of a hangar at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy under an agreement with Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A truck delivers an F-104 Starfighter, formerly of the Italian Air Force, to Starfighters Inc. at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 19, 2012. The aircraft is one of five delivered to the company recently. They will be reassembled to fly research and development and other missions. Starfighters operates out of a hangar at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy under an agreement with Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A crane lifts an F-104 Starfighter off the bed of a truck at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 19, 2012. The aircraft is one of five delivered to the company recently. They will be reassembled to fly research and development and other missions. Starfighters operates out of a hangar at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy under an agreement with Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A truck delivers an F-104 Starfighter, formerly of the Italian Air Force, to Starfighters Inc. at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 19, 2012. The aircraft is one of five delivered to the company recently. They will be reassembled to fly research and development and other missions. Starfighters operates out of a hangar at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy under an agreement with Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A crane lifts an F-104 Starfighter off the bed of a truck at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 19, 2012. The aircraft is one of five delivered to the company recently. They will be reassembled to fly research and development and other missions. Starfighters operates out of a hangar at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy under an agreement with Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

The Allison Engine Company's A.G. Covell instructs mechanics from various divisions at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory on the operation of the Allison Basic Engine. The military had asked that the laboratory undertake an extensive program to improve the performance of the Allison V–1710 engine. The V–1710 was the only liquid-cooled engine used during World War II, and the military counted on it to power several types of fighter aircraft. The NACA instituted an Apprentice Program during the war to educate future mechanics, technicians, and electricians. The program was suspended for a number of years due to the increasing rates of military service by its participants. The laboratory continued its in-house education during the war, however, by offering a number of classes to its employees and lectures for the research staff. The classes and lectures were usually taught by fellow members of the staff, but occasionally external experts were brought in. The students in the Allison class in the Engine Research Building were taught how to completely disassemble and reassemble the engine components and systems. From left to right are Don Vining, Ed Cudlin, Gus DiNovo, George Larsen, Charles Diggs, Martin Lipes, Harley Roberts, Martin Berwaldt and John Dempsey. A.G. Covell is standing.

This side-rear view of the X-24A Lifting Body on the lakebed by the NASA Flight Research Center shows its control surfaces used for subsonic flight.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – The NOAA-N Prime spacecraft is offloaded from a C-5 aircraft after arrival at Vandenberg Air Force Base Airfield in California. NOAA-N Prime was built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company for its Advanced Television Infrared Observational Satellites -N series. It is the latest polar-orbiting operational environmental weather satellite developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The satellite will provide a platform to support environmental monitoring instruments for imaging and measuring the Earth's atmosphere, its surface and cloud cover, including Earth radiation, atmospheric ozone, aerosol distribution, sea surface temperature and vertical temperature and water profiles in the troposphere and stratosphere. The satellite will assist in measuring proton and electron fluxes at orbit altitude, collecting data from remote platforms to assist the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking system. The satellite will be launched from the Western Range at Vandenberg AFB by a United Launch Alliance two-stage Delta II rocket managed by NASA's Launch Service Program at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Jerry Nagy, VAFB

The wingless, lifting body aircraft sitting on Rogers Dry Lake at what is now NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, from left to right are the X-24A, M2-F3 and the HL-10. The lifting body aircraft studied the feasibility of maneuvering and landing an aerodynamic craft designed for reentry from space. These lifting bodies were air launched by a B-52 mother ship, then flew powered by their own rocket engines before making an unpowered approach and landing. They helped validate the concept that a space shuttle could make accurate landings without power. The X-24A flew from April 17, 1969 to June 4, 1971. The M2-F3 flew from June 2, 1970 until December 22, 1972. The HL-10 flew from December 22, 1966 until July 17, 1970, and logged the highest and fastest records in the lifting body program.

The wingless, lifting body aircraft sitting on Rogers Dry Lake at what is now NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, from left to right are the X-24A, M2-F3 and the HL-10. The lifting body aircraft studied the feasibility of maneuvering and landing an aerodynamic craft designed for reentry from space. These lifting bodies were air launched by a B-52 mother ship, then flew powered by their own rocket engines before making an unpowered approach and landing. They helped validate the concept that a space shuttle could make accurate landings without power. The X-24A flew from April 17, 1969 to June 4, 1971. The M2-F3 flew from June 2, 1970 until December 21, 1971. The HL-10 flew from December 22, 1966 until July 17, 1970, and logged the highest and fastest records in the lifting body program.

The wingless, lifting body aircraft sitting on Rogers Dry Lake at what is now NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, from left to right are the X-24A, M2-F3 and the HL-10. The lifting body aircraft studied the feasibility of maneuvering and landing an aerodynamic craft designed for reentry from space. These lifting bodies were air launched by a B-52 mother ship, then flew powered by their own rocket engines before making an unpowered approach and landing. They helped validate the concept that a space shuttle could make accurate landings without power. The X-24A flew from April 17, 1969 to June 4, 1971. The M2-F3 flew from June 2, 1970 until December 20, 1972. The HL-10 flew from December 22, 1966 until July 17, 1970 and logged the highest and fastest records in the lifting body program.

The wingless, lifting body aircraft sitting on Rogers Dry Lake at what is now NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, from left to right are the X-24A, M2-F3 and the HL-10. The lifting body aircraft studied the feasibility of maneuvering and landing an aerodynamic craft designed for reentry from space. These lifting bodies were air launched by a B-52 mother ship, then flew powered by their own rocket engines before making an unpowered approach and landing. They helped validate the concept that a space shuttle could make accurate landings without power. The X-24A flew from April 17, 1969 to June 4, 1971. The M2-F3 flew from June 2, 1970 until December 20, 1972. The HL-10 flew from December 22, 1966 until July 17, 1970 and logged the highest and fastest records in the lifting body program.