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Originally Posted by neardeathexperience
The Germans had way more advanced weapons, along with their planes like the stealth one that they were developing prior to the war caving in around them.....
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The ME 263 sounds suspiciously like the inspiration for the shuttlecraft. It was a manned rocket that used a track to shoot down and get airborne. Then it jettisoned the wheels and axles just as the shuttlecraft jettisoned its engines after lift-off. The 263 shot straight up with with guns blazing at the unprotected bellies of the Allied bombers. After expending its fuel, it glided back to earth just as the shuttlecraft flew back to earth.
The problem was that the 263 was extremely vulnerable to being shot down while gliding so they craft was never more than experimental.
Still, it appeared that NASA "borrowed" the design.