Recent NASA artwork depicting the Orion space capsule and ESA service module atop a Delta IV derived upper stage.
The San Diego Air and Space Museum has posted a great many images to Flickr, including a fair amount of concept art. One piece (you can see the best-rez version HERE) depicts a Ryan Aeronautical concept for an air boat equipped with a Flex-Wing. Date would probably have been around 1962, plus or minus a few years. The exact role here is a bit obscure… why would the Army have boats like this? Perhaps a troops transport of some type, though a helicopter would probably be a better choice.
Here’s a look at issues 9 and 10 of US Bomber Projects (just noticed that issue 8 isn’t listed on the main USBP page… hopefully that explains the dismal sales. Until I fix up the web page, you can order #8 HERE).
A potential followup to THIS POST seems to show a better view of what may be a new stealthy aircraft:
Wichita’s mystery in the sky
A tiny amount of processing gives this:
To me, this might be a B-2, The underside of the “nose” certainly looks like the complex contouring of the B-2. But the trailing edge *looks* unlike the B-2. Another sites’ attempt at processing gives an interesting trailing edge:
Clearer photo of mysterious unidentified flying object taken in Kansas
If this is accurate, the aircraft looks like nothing so much as the Boeing Model 988-122, one of a series of stealthy and semi-stealthy highly maneuverable multi-role aircraft designed around 1996:
A diagram showing the thermal radiators planned for one version of the SP-100 space nuclear power reactor.
Around the time NASA was studying the likes of space colonies and solar power satellites in the 1970’s, it was also commissioning studies of advanced launch vehicles which would be cheaper than the Shuttle (which as yet had not launched nor proven to be as massively expensive as it would turn out to be). One such design was a single stage to orbit vehicle designed by Martin Marietta. Similar to the Shuttle Orbiter in configuration, it was comparatively very fat due to being stuffed full of liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen. Diagrams have been floating around of this thing and are readily accessed; less rarely seen is color artwork of it.
Shazam: