At the Edge of Space: The X-15 Flight ProgramIn At the Edge of Space, Milton O. Thompson, a pilot active in the X-15 program from beginning to end, tells the dramatic story of one of the most successful research aircraft ever flown. Initiated in the 1950s by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (later NASA), the U.S. Air Force, and the Navy, the X-15 program tested the survivability of rocket-powered aircraft at hypersonic speeds and at the outermost limits of the earth's atmosphere. Nine phases of the program tested engine capabilities, altitude and speed capacity, and pilot ability, as well as experiments unrelated to the aircraft itself. Achieving hypersonic speeds, the X-15 aircraft also yielded design and materials data integral to the subsequent Apollo and space shuttle missions. The first full-length account of the X-15 program, At the Edge of Space profiles the twelve test pilots (Neil Armstrong, Joe Engle, Scott Crossfield, and the author among them) chosen for the program. Thompson has translated a highly technical subject into readable accounts of each pilot's participation, including many heroic and humorous anecdotes and highlighting the pilots' careers after the program ended in 1968. |
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A/C Flight actual Burn actual h aerodynamic airplane airspeed altitude altitude buildup altitude flight angle of attack astronaut began Bikle Bill Dana Bruce Peterson canopy Capt Chase Chase-4 climb cockpit Crossfield Cuddeback damper Date Delamar Duration Dyna-Soar ejection emergency landing Engle experiment feet altitude feet per second finally flew flight plan flight program flown flying heating Hidden Hills Hidden Hills B-52 hypersonic inertial Jack McKay jettison Joe Walker Knight lakebed landing gear Launch Lake lifting body LR-99 engine Mach number maneuver maximum altitude Mike miles Milt Milt Thompson minutes Mud Lake NACA NASA Neil Neil Armstrong nose gear number three Paul Bikle peak altitude Pete phase plan Burn plan h problem propellant Purpose reaction controls Remarks roll runway Rushworth Rushworth plan scramjet shutdown simulator speed brakes Speed MPH Stability and control takeoff tanks Thompson throttle unpowered vehicle ventral wing X-15 flight X-15 program