The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft which was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as …

Feb 28, 2014 · Although the number two aircraft was later modified, the basic X-15 was a single-seat, mid-wing monoplane designed to explore the areas of high aerodynamic heating rates, …

Three X-15 spaceplanes performed 199 free flights. The flights of the North American X-15, an experimental American spaceplane built by North American Aviation and operated by the …

Jul 28, 2020 · Bold, black and blazing fast: The North American X-15 was a plane unlike any other. And although it first flew over 60 years ago, it is still the quickest manned aircraft ever to …

First flown in 1959, the North American X-15 bridged the gap between human flight in the atmosphere and spaceflight. It was the first winged aircraft to fly Mach 4, 5, & 6 and to operate …

On Sept. 17, at the controls of X-15-2, Crossfield completed the first powered flight of an X-15. Firing all eight of the XLR-11 engines for 224 seconds, he reached a speed of Mach 2.11, or …

Oct 13, 2023 · On Oct. 15, 1958, the first X-15 hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft rolled out of its factory. A joint project among NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy, the X-15 greatly …

Mar 20, 2025 · X-15, rocket-powered research aircraft built in the 1950s by North American Aviation, Inc., for the U.S. military and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in …

Built by the Northrop Aircraft Corporation, the X-15's ball nose was an attitude sensing device, an Inconel sphere with small orifices that could measure the airplane's angle of attack and...

Jan 31, 2022 · The entire X-15 production run comprised a mere three units; however, this iconic research vehicle became an important stepping-stone to the moon landing. The X-15 …