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The X-20 Dyna-Soar might be the greatest space bomber that never came to be.
This single-pilot reusable space plane was envisioned to reach the Earth’s orbit and glide across long distances until it landed unpowered on a runway. This would have resulted in an aircraft that could have been able to engage in an intercontinental nuclear strike mission or fly undetected in reconnaissance missions.
The Dyna-Soar was conceived after decades of research by pioneers in liquid propeller rockets and hypersonic flight - much of it initiated by Germany during World War II. These men dreamt of a plane that could take off from Germany and bomb the United States in a matter of hours. Years later, with the German scientists now on their side, the U.S Air Force expected to use the Dyno-Soar as a weapon against the Soviets.
During the plane’s development, astronaut Neil Armstrong became a key figure in figuring out how pilots could eject the glider if the rocket ever exploded.
The project was far more advanced than other human spaceflight missions of the time. Still, despite its promise, the project was brought down by politics. The Dyno-Soar never had one specific objective, and no other benefits could be found for military purposes, at least publicly. Hints of the design lessons learned from the X-20 can be glimpsed in DARPA’s secretive X-37 that is orbiting the Earth today...
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