Some cool tech was there. They got so far with it as well — search for it on YouTube and you can find videos of various aspects of research that went into it. [1..6]
I like the landing skids that used the stretching of metal as the means to adsorb the shock of landing - reminds me somewhat of the metal honeycomb that collapsed to adsorb the lunar module landing on the moon.
I believe water circulated through the skin of the craft near the astronaut compartment to take heat away during reentry.
I recall that the nose of the craft was made of a rather interesting material. That may've been shared with the X-15 as well.
Enough blueprints too are available for the craft-that-never-flew that I enjoyed creating a kind of balsa-kit-that-never-existed. [7] A very pretty plane it was/wasnt.
[1] https://youtu.be/TkWg4dd7e8w
[2] https://youtu.be/8Bn5A0oNpuM
[3] https://youtu.be/drfcrl_vc8M
[4] https://youtu.be/muNYhj9DFrM
[5] https://youtu.be/TikodTMGdP0
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