X-15
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NASA
Meet the Fleet: NASA Armstrong Continues Legacy of Flight Research
NASA’s home for experimental flight is welcoming more flyers to its already high-performing fleet as it continues to support science and aeronautics test missions – continuing the legacy of pioneers like Neil Armstrong. NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, added multiple aircraft this year: two F-15s supersonic jets, a Pilatus PC-12 utility plane, and a T-34 turboprop trainer, which the center will…
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NASA
Astronaut Joe Engle Flies X-15
Former NASA astronaut Joe Engle poses in front of an X-15 plane in this Dec. 2, 1965, photo. On June 29, 1965, Engle flew the X-15 to 280,600 feet, becoming the youngest U.S. pilot to qualify as an astronaut. The Kansas native flew the X-15 for the U.S. Air Force 16 times from 1963 to 1965. Three times Engle flew an X-15 higher than…
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NASA
Helicopter Removes Artifact from NASA Armstrong Rooftop
What do the X-15 and the space shuttles have in common? Information from the rocket plane and the spacecraft, as well as many experimental aircraft, were tracked from a pedestal and telemetry dish during key eras in flight history at or near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. When the NASA facility’s administration Building 4800 was built in the 1950s, the infrastructure…
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NASA
65 Years Ago: First Powered Flight of the X-15 Hypersonic Rocket Plane
The X-15 hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft, built by North American Aviation (NAA), greatly expanded our knowledge of flight at speeds exceeding Mach 6 and altitudes above 250,000 feet. A joint project among NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy, the X-15’s first powered flight took place on Sept. 17, 1959, at the Flight Research Center, now the Armstrong Flight Research Center,…
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NASA
NASA Remembers Retired Astronaut, US Air Force Pilot Joe Engle
Retired NASA astronaut and U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Joe Engle died July 10, surrounded by his family at home in Houston. Among his many honors, he is the only astronaut to pilot both the X-15 and space shuttle. He was 91. Engle became an astronaut at age 32 while flying the X-15 for the U.S. Air Force, becoming the…
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NASA
65 Years Ago: First Factory Rollout of the X-15 Hypersonic Rocket Plane
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. Between 1959 and 1968, 12 pilots completed 199 missions, achieving ever-higher speeds and altitudes…
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