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 part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft.

Feb 28, 2014 · The X-15 was a follow-on research aircraft to the early X-planes, which had explored the flight regime from just below the speed of sound (Mach 1) to Mach 3.2. In 1952 the NACA had begun preliminary research into space flight and associated problems.

The flights of the North American X-15, an experimental American spaceplane built by North American Aviation and operated by the United States Air Force and NASA, were conducted from 1959 to 1968. Twelve pilots flew three X-15 spaceplanes, flying record high-altitude flights, high-speed flights, and sub-orbital spaceflights.

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 1,393 miles per hour, and an altitude of 52,341 feet.

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 fly. Shaped more...

The X-15 was air launched from a B-52 aircraft at 45,000 feet and at a speed of about 500 mph. After dropping from the B-52, the rocket engine provided thrust for the first 80 to 120 seconds of flight.

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 order to gather information on flight conditions beyond the atmosphere.

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 at altitudes above 30,500 m (100,000 ft). Eight of 12 pilots received astronaut wings.

The X-15 that hangs in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air Space Museum is the first of three built by North American Aviation.

From 1959 through 1968 a decade-long research program employed the North American Aviation X-15 to explore hypersonic flight and technologies needed for space flight. The X-15's pioneering flights set records that still have not been broken four decades later, including a top speed of Mach 6.7 (4,520 mph) and a peak altitude of 354,200 feet (67 ...