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United States Air Force NASA. Number built. 3. The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set speed and altitude records in the 1960s, crossing the edge of ...
Twelve pilots flew the X-15 over the course of its career. Scott Crossfield and William Dana flew the X-15 on its first and last free flights, respectively. Joseph Walker set the program's top two altitude records on its 90th and 91st free flights (347,800 and 354,200 feet, respectively), becoming the only pilot to fly past the Kármán line, the 100 kilometer, FAI-recognized boundary of outer ...
Later X-planes supported important research in a multitude of aerodynamic and technical fields, but only the North American X-15 rocket plane of the early 1960s achieved comparable fame to that of the X-1.
Robert Michael White (July 6, 1924 – March 17, 2010) ( Maj Gen, USAF) [2] was an American electrical engineer, test pilot, fighter pilot, and astronaut. [3] [4] He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA. As an engineer, he supervised the design and ...
X-15 Flight 3-65-97, also known as X-15 Flight 191 (being the 191st free flight of the X-15), was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the North American X-15 experimental spaceplane, carrying seven experiments to a peak altitude of 266,000 feet (50.4 mi; 81 km; 43.8 nmi), above NASA's definition of the start of space at 50 miles (80 km) but below the Kármán line definition at 62 miles (100 km).
Crossfield flew 14 of the 199 total X-15 flight tests with most of these tests establishing and validating initial key parameters. Crossfield was not only involved with the design of X-15 from the beginning, but introduced many innovations, including putting engine controls of the rocket plane into the cockpit.
Michael James Adams (May 5, 1930 – November 15, 1967) ( Maj USAF) was an American aviator, aeronautical engineer, and USAF astronaut. [ 1] He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA . On November 15, 1967, Adams flew X-15 Flight 191 (also known as X-15 ...
Landing site. Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards. Joe Walker. X-15 Flight 91 was an August 22, 1963 American crewed sub-orbital spaceflight, and the second and final flight in the program to fly above the Kármán line, which was previously achieved during Flight 90 a month earlier by the same pilot, Joseph A. Walker. It was the highest flight of the X ...