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 · 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, stability and control, physiological phenomena, and other problems relating to hypersonic flight (above Mach 5).

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 United States Air Force and NASA, were conducted from 1959 to 1968.

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...

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.

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.

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 expanded our knowledge of flight at speeds exceeding Mach 6 and altitudes above 250,000 feet.

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.

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 epitomized small and fast by setting unofficial records of speed (4,520 mph) and altitude (354,200 feet), which remain formidable today.