The Waverider atmosphere entry vehicle was invented in the 1950s at Queen's College, Belfast, during studies of a man-carrying vehicle for a British space program to be based on Blue Streak, by the late Prof. Terence R.F. Nonweiler, later Professor of Aeronautics and Dean of Engineering at Glasgow University. The use of a Waverider nose-cone on the US Air Force X-51A prototype cruise missile, 2003-2012, has caused some press coverage to describe it as a recent invention. Research by the author, particularly in 2013-14, has clarified many issues regarding the definition, origins and history of Waverider vehicles to date, and may help to set the record straight in a number of respects.
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