An important part of data collection for the United States space program, the North American X-15 had astonishing performance ...

The North American X-15 did more than set records; it quietly redrew the map of what a piloted aircraft could survive at the edge of space. By pushing hypersonic flight to extremes that still stand ...

IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more. This collection consists of two items ...

The X-15 program pushed human flight into hypersonic speeds and the edge of space long before the Space Shuttle, with pilots ...

NASA awarded astronaut wings today to three 1960’s-era test pilots. The pilots were never recognized for going beyond the atmosphere and into space flying the X-15 experimental aircraft. Retired NASA ...

Summary and Key Points: Before NASA led U.S. space exploration, there was debate over whether the U.S. Air Force or the newly formed NASA should shuttle astronauts to space and in what type of craft. ...

The X-15 was a key bridge between conventional atmospheric flight and spaceflight. The North American X-15 is one of the most groundbreaking aircraft ever created in the history of aviation and space ...

Joe Engle, the last surviving member of the test pilots who skimmed the edge of space on the X-15 rocket plane in the 1960s and who later orbited the Earth on space-shuttle missions, died July 10 at ...

Joe Engle’s Remarkable Career Bridged Gap Between Air and Space, Broke Records. Astronaut, X-15 test pilot and space shuttle pilot Joe Engle has died at home in Houston, Texas. He was 91. Engle passed ...

Engle is recorded as the sixth person to fly a suborbital flight and 104th to enter orbit. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Joe ...