X-15

[Orionid]

10.12.1964 odbył się 123. lot X-15 z Joe Engle, który osiągnął wysokość 34503 metrów i prędkość 5913  km/h (5,35 Mach).

- 123ème du X-15 (proto n°1) avec Joe Engle qui atteint 34 503 mètres d'altitude et 5 913 km/h (mach 5,35)

https://x.com/spacemen1969/status/1733746871158382726

1964 December 10 - . 19:10 GMT - . Launch Site: Edwards. Launch Complex: Delamar Dry Lake DZ.
Launch Pad: Edwards RW04/22. Launch Platform: NB-52 003.

X-15A IFDS/MIT/Air Den Test/Aeronomy mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA, USAF. Spacecraft: X-15A.
Apogee: 34 km (21 mi). Maximum Speed - 5913 kph. Maximum Altitude - 34503 m.
Air dropped in Delamar Dry Lake DZ..

http://www.astronautix.com/d/december10.html

[Orionid]

14.12.1956: makieta inżynieryjna X-15 w zakładach North American Aviation.
http://www.mach25media.com/x15mockup.html

14 December 1956. The X-15 engineering mock-up at the North American Aviation plant.

https://x.com/ron_eisele/status/1735023267138707678

[Orionid]

20.12.1961 odbył się 46. lot X-15 z Neilem Amstrongiem, który osiągnął wysokość 24700 metrów i prędkość  4026 km/h (3,76 Mach).

20 décembre
- 1961 : 46ème vol d'un X-15 avec Neil Amstrong. 1er vol du 3ème prototype. Altitude de 24 700 mètres et 4 026 km/h (mach 3,76)

1961 December 20 - . 22:45 GMT - . Launch Site: Edwards. Launch Complex: Silver Lake DZ. Launch Pad: Edwards RW04/22. Launch Platform: NB-52 003.

X-15A MH-96 test - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA, USAF. Spacecraft: X-15A. Apogee: 24 km (14 mi). First flight for X-15 # 3. Maximum Speed - 4026 kph. Maximum Altitude - 24700 m. Air dropped in Silver Lake DZ..

http://www.astronautix.com/d/december20.html
https://twitter.com/ron_eisele/status/1737181259460132881

20 December 1961. The X-15 No. 3 following Neil Armstrong's third flight: 3-1-2.

[Orionid]

20.12.1962 odbył się 76. lot X-15 z Joe Walkerem, który osiągnął wysokość 48900 metrów i prędkość 6103  km/h (5,73 Mach).

- 1962 : 60ème anniversaire du 76ème vol d'un X-15 avec Joe Walker qui atteint 48 900 mètres et 6 103 km/h (mach 5,73)

https://x.com/spacemen1969/status/1737368485158916189

1962 December 20 - . 19:25 GMT - . Launch Site: Edwards. Launch Complex: Mud Lake DZ. Launch Pad: Edwards RW04/22. Launch Platform: NB-52 008.

X-15A VO Stab, MH-96 test - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA, USAF. Spacecraft: X-15A. Apogee: 48 km (29 mi). Maximum Speed - 6103 kph. Maximum Altitude - 48900 m. Air dropped in Mud Lake DZ..

http://www.astronautix.com/d/december20.html

[Orionid]

20.12.1962 Milton Orville Thompson, pilot testowy NASA przydzielony do X-15, rozbił się w myśliwcu Lockheed F-104A-10-LO Starfighter (s/n 56-749, NASA 749) podczas sprawdzania pogody przed lądowaniem X-15.
Pilot bezpiecznie katapultował się.
https://www.aerotechnews.com/blog/2023/12/16/on-this-date-189/

20 December 1962. Milton Orville Thompson, NASA research pilot assigned to the X-15, crashed while conducting a weather check for X-15 landing in Lockheed F-104A-10-LO Starfighter, (s/n 56-749, NASA 749). He ejected safely.

https://x.com/ron_eisele/status/1737181406952866149

[Orionid]

20.12.1968 program North American X-15 został oficjalnie odwołany.

20 December 1968. The North American X-15 program was officially cancelled. A hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft.

https://x.com/ron_eisele/status/1737181572158099545

Once the first Mercury flights got underway, public attention shifted to the events at Cape Canaveral. This might, however, have ultimately worked to the program's benefit. A major contributor to the X-15's success over the long run was its emphasis on incremental development and its use in highly specialized scientific and technical research.42 As experience with many later space projects (including Apollo after Apollo 11, the shuttle, etc.) has shown, the general public tends to lose interest in such "routine" undertakings rather quickly. In short, it appears as though the X-15 got a needed boost of public fanfare at precisely the right point in its history —the later development and early flight test stage— and then became regarded as a low-key effort worthy of only occasional interest just as it was entering its less "flashy" research phase. These shifts in external perception probably could not have been planned any better.

https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4219/Chapter6.html
https://www.quora.com/Why-was-the-X-15-program-cancelled

[Orionid]

31.12.1961 Boeing NB-52A 52-003 z X-15 pod prawym skrzydłem, w bazie sił powietrznych Edwards.

31 December 1961. Boeing NB-52A 52-003 with a North American Aviation X-15 under its right wing, at Edwards Air Force Base.

https://x.com/ron_eisele/status/1741212974822408590

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/52-003/

[Orionid]

08.01.1964 odbył się 98. lot X-15 z Joe Engle, który osiągnął wysokość 42642 metrów i prędkość 5818  km/h (5,32 Mach).

1964 January 8 - . 20:10 GMT - . Launch Site: Edwards. Launch Complex: Mud Lake DZ. Launch Pad: Edwards RW04/22. Launch Platform: NB-52 008. FAILURE: Inertial instruments failure..

X-15A SAS Off Stability test - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA, USAF. Spacecraft: X-15A. Apogee: 42 km (26 mi). Maximum Speed - 5818 kph. Maximum Altitude - 42642 m. Air dropped in Mud Lake DZ..

http://www.astronautix.com/j/january08.html
https://x.com/spacemen1969/status/1744412375967567992

[Orionid]

10.01.1962 odbył się 47. lot X-15 z Forrestem S. Petersenem , który osiągnął wysokość 13640 metrów i prędkość 1038 km/h (0,97 Mach).
Lot zakończył się awaryjnym lądowaniem w Mud Dry Lake w pobliżu Tonopah w stanie Nevada z powodu nieudanego uruchomienia silnika.
Był to ostatni lot Petersena w programie.
http://www.mach25media.com/x15chap04.html

1962 January 10 - . 20:28 GMT - . Launch Site: Edwards. Launch Complex: Mud Lake DZ. Launch Pad: Edwards RW04/22. Launch Platform: NB-52 003. FAILURE: Emergency landing at Mud Lake..

X-15A High alpha, Aero test - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA, USAF. Spacecraft: X-15A. Apogee: 13 km (8 mi). Emergency landing on Mud Lake after engine failed to light. Maximum Speed - 1038 kph. Maximum Altitude - 13,640 m. Air dropped in Mud Lake DZ..

http://www.astronautix.com/j/january10.html
https://twitter.com/ron_eisele/status/1744845301674807471

10 January 1962. Engineers working on the X-15 No. 1 in preparation for its return to Edwards following the Mud Lake emergency landing on flight 1-25-44.

Piloting X-15 for his 5th & final free flight OTD in 1962 Forrest Petersen aborted the planned mission & conduct an emergency landing on Mud Lake when the engine failed to ignite. The 47th free flight, & 25th for X-15 #1, still achieved Mach 0.97 & an altitude of 44,750ft.

https://x.com/aisoffice/status/1744998925315215479

[Orionid]

16.01.1964 odbył się 99. lot X-15 z Miltem Thompsonem, który osiągnął wysokość 21641 metrów i prędkość 5216  km/h (4,92 Mach).

1964 January 16 - . 18:03 GMT - . Launch Site: Edwards. Launch Complex: Hidden Hills DZ. Launch Pad: Edwards RW04/22. Launch Platform: NB-52 008.

X-15A Sharp Upper Vert test - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA, USAF. Spacecraft: X-15A. Apogee: 21 km (13 mi). Maximum Speed - 5216 kph. Maximum Altitude - 21641 m. Air dropped in Hidden Hills DZ..

http://www.astronautix.com/j/january16.html
https://aviation1-spacemen1969.blogspot.com/2023/08/milton-o-thompson-1926-1993-usa.html
https://spacerelics.blogspot.com/2020/11/les-vols-en-x-15-de-milt-thompson-les.html
https://x.com/spacemen1969/status/1747158996937568604
https://twitter.com/aisoffice/status/1747167760092647453

NASA research pilot Milton Thompson (1926-1993) flew the X-15 #3 aircraft (56-6672) on its 25th free flight OTD in 1964. It was Thompson's 3rd (of a total 14) free-flight in an X-15, attaining 21.6 km and Mach 4.92 (5,186 kph). This was also the programmes 99th free flight.

[Orionid]

17.01.1963 odbył się 77. lot X-15 z Joe Walkerem, który osiągnął wysokość 82810 metrów i prędkość 5917 km/h (5,47 Mach).
Joe Walkerem został „pierwszym cywilem w kosmosie”.

1963 January 17 - . 18:59 GMT - . Launch Site: Edwards. Launch Complex: Delamar Dry Lake DZ. Launch Pad: Edwards RW04/22. Launch Platform: NB-52 008.

X-15A VO Alt, IR expt Test/Technology mission - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA, USAF. Spacecraft: X-15A. Apogee: 82 km (50 mi). First civilian flight above 80 km. Maximum Speed - 5917 kph. Maximum Altitude - 82810 m. Second astronaut wings flight (USAF definition). Air dropped in Delamar Dry Lake DZ..

http://www.astronautix.com/j/january17.html
https://x.com/spacemen1969/status/1615245032469970944

17 January 1962. X-15 No. 3 two days prior to its second flight, (3-2-3).

https://x.com/ron_eisele/status/1747322755274428813

17 January 1963. Joseph Albert "Joe" Walker (February 20, 1921 – June 8, 1966) flew the North American X15, serial number 56-6672 to a height of 271,700 feet and, having flown higher than 50 miles, qualified for astronaut wings.

https://x.com/ron_eisele/status/1747322863982723166

[Orionid]

(1)
23.01.1960 odbył się 5. lot X-15 ze Scottem Crossfieldem, który osiągnął wysokość 20374 metrów i prędkość 2685 km/h (2,53 Mach).

North American Aviation contractor test pilot Scott Crossfield flies X-15 #1 (56-6670) on the 5th free flight of the programme OTD in 1960.This was his 2nd free flight & the 1st powered flight in the #1 aircraft during which he attains Mach 2.53, or 1,669 mph reaching 66,844 feet

https://x.com/aisoffice/status/1749698538043212248

[Orionid]

(2)
Był to pierwszy lot X-15-1 z napędem.
Fitzhugh Fulton i Charles Kuyk pilotowali 52B.
https://twitter.com/ron_eisele/status/1749505027427676163

23 January 1960. First powered flight of the X-15-1. Fitzhugh Fulton and Charles Kuyk launched Scott Crossfield from the NB-52B on mission 1-2-7. Crossfield reached Mach 2.53 and 66,844 feet during 4 minutes and 27 seconds of rocket-powered flight.

https://air-and-space.com/x-15%20forty%20years%20later%20200001.htm

[Orionid]

28.01.1964 odbył się 100. lot X-15 z Robertem A. Rushworthem , który osiągnął wysokość 32736 metrów i prędkość 5821  km/h (5,34 Mach).
Był to 18. lot Rushwortha z z 34., które wykonał w programie.

1964 January 28 - . 20:11 GMT - . Launch Site: Edwards. Launch Complex: Delamar Dry Lake DZ. Launch Pad: Edwards RW04/22. Launch Platform: NB-52 008.

X-15A Stability test - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA, USAF. Spacecraft: X-15A. Apogee: 32 km (19 mi). Maximum Speed - 5821 kph. Maximum Altitude - 32736 m. First test of hypersonic speed brakes. Air dropped in Delamar Dry Lake DZ..

http://www.astronautix.com/j/january28.html

https://spacerelics.blogspot.com/2020/11/les-vols-en-x-15-de-robert-rushworth.html
https://x.com/spacemen1969/status/1751503121765847278

[Orionid]

07.02.1961 odbył się 33. lot X-15 (Robert M. White), który osiągnął wysokość 23820 metrów i prędkość 3660  km/h (3,49 Mach).
Na zdjęciu Robert Michael „Bob” White po powrocie z ostatniego lotu X-15 z silnikiem rakietowym na paliwo płynne XLR 11.
https://air-and-space.com/x-15%20forty%20years%20later%20200103.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_Motors_XLR
https://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/X-15/HTML/ECN-101.html

1961 February 7 - . 20:56 GMT - . Launch Site: Edwards. Launch Complex: Silver Lake DZ. Launch Pad: Edwards RW04/22. Launch Platform: NB-52 008.

X-15A Stab./Control test - . Nation: USA. Agency: NASA, USAF. Spacecraft: X-15A. Apogee: 23 km (14 mi). Maximum Speed - 3660 kph. Maximum Altitude - 23820 m. Last XLR-11 flight. Air dropped in Silver Lake DZ..

http://www.astronautix.com/f/february07.html
https://twitter.com/ron_eisele/status/1754946104091611190

7 February 1961. Test pilot Robert Michael "Bob" White (6 July 1924 – 17 March 2010) on his return from the X-15’s final powered flight with the XLR11 liquid-propellant rocket engine. Flight: 1-21-36.