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Описание: E-14198 Captain Joe Engle is seen here next to the North American X-15-2 (56-6671) rocket-powered research aircraft after a flight. Engle made 16 flights in the North American X-15 between October 7, 1963, and October 14, 1965. Three of the flights, on June 29, August 10, and October 14, 1965, were above 50 miles, qualifying him for astronaut wings under the Air Force definition. Engle was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1966, making him the only person who had flown in space before being selected as an astronaut. First assigned to the Apollo program, he served on the support crew for Apollo 10, and then as backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 14. In 1977, he was commander of one of two crews who were launched from atop a modified Boeing 747 to conduct approach and landing tests with the Space Shuttle Enterprise. In November 1981, he commanded the second flight of the Shuttle Columbia and manually flew the re-entry-performing 29 flight test maneuvers - from Mach 25 through landing roll out. This was the first and, so far, only time that a winged aerospace vehicle has been manually flown from orbit through landing. He accumulated the last of his 224 hours in space when he commanded the Shuttle Discovery during STS-51-I in August of 1985. 1965 NASA Photo North American X-15 An unofficial motto of flight research in the 1940s and 1950s was "higher and faster." By the late 1950s the last frontier of that goal was hypersonic flight (Mach 5+) to the edge of space. It would require a huge leap in aeronautical technology, life support systems and flight planning. The North American X-15 rocket plane was built to meet that challenge. It was designed to fly at speeds up to Mach 6, and altitudes up to 250,000 ft. The aircraft went on to reach a maximum speed of Mach 6.7 and a maximum altitude of 354,200 ft. Looking at it another way, Mach 6 is about one mile per second, and flight above 264,000 ft. qualifies an Air Force pilot for astronaut wings. The North American X-15 was a rocket-powered aircraft 50 ft long with a wingspan of 22 ft. It was a missile-shaped vehicle with an unusual wedge-shaped vertical tail, thin stubby wings, and unique side fairings that extended along the side of the fuselage. The North American X-15 weighed about 14,000 lb empty and approximately 34,000 lb at launch. The XLR-99 rocket engine, manufactured by Thiokol Chemical Corp., was pilot controlled and was capable of developing 57,000 lb of thrust. North American Aviation built three North American X-15 aircraft for the program. The North American X-15 research aircraft was developed to provide in-flight information and data on aerodynamics, structures, flight controls, and the physiological aspects of high-speed, high-altitude flight. A follow-on program used the aircraft as a testbed to carry various scientific experiments beyond the Earth's atmosphere on a repeated basis. For flight in the dense air of the usable atmosphere, the North American X-15 used conventional aerodynamic controls such as rudders on the vertical stabilizers to control yaw and movable horizontal stabilizers to control pitch when moving in synchronization or roll when moved differentially. For flight in the thin air outside of the appreciable Earth's atmosphere, the North American X-15 used a reaction control system. Hydrogen peroxide thrust rockets located on the nose of the aircraft provided pitch and yaw control. Those on the wings controlled roll. Because of the large fuel consumption, the North American X-15 was air launched from a B-52 aircraft at 45,000 ft and a speed of about 500 mph. Depending on the mission, the rocket engine provided thrust for the first 80 to 120 sec of flight. The remainder of the normal 10 to 11 min. flight was powerless and ended with a 200-mph glide landing. Generally, one of two types of North American X-15 flight profiles was used; a high-altitude flight plan that called for the pilot to maintain a steep rate of climb, or a speed profile that called for the pilot to push over and maintain a level altitude. The North American X-15 was flown over a period of nearly 10 years - June 1959 to Oct. 1968 - and set the world's unofficial speed and altitude records of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7) and 354,200 ft in a program to investigate all aspects of piloted hypersonic flight. Information gained from the highly successful North American X-15 program contributed to the development of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo piloted spaceflight programs, and also the Space Shuttle program. The North American X-15s made a total of 199 flights, and were manufactured by North American Aviation. North American X-15-1, serial number 56-6670, is now located at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC. North American X-15A-2, serial number 56-6671, is at the United States Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. North American X-15-3, serial number 56-6672, crashed on 15 November 1967, resulting in the death of Maj. Michael J. Adams. Parts of the North American X-15-3 are on display at the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum at Edwards AFB, and the San Diego Aerospace Museum, San Diego, California.

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