Research Project X-15
The X-15 was the last in a line of manned rocket-powered research airplanes built during the 1950s to explore ever-faster and higher flight regimes. Nineteen years before Space Shuttle, the X-15 showed it was possible to fly into, and out of, space. Launched from the wing of a modified B-52 bomber, the ship rocketed higher and faster than any manned aircraft of the time. There had never been anything like the X-15; it had a million-horsepower engine and could fly twice as fast as a rifle bullet. In the joint X-15 hypersonic research program that NASA conducted with the Air Force, the Navy, and North American Aviation the aircraft flew over a period of nearly 10 years and set unofficial speed and altitude records, in a program to investigate all aspects of piloted hypersonic flight. Information gained from the highly successful X-15 program contributed to the development of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo piloted spaceflight programs as well as the Space Shuttle program.
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- —
- Box office
- —
- Language
- EN
- aviation
- space program
- hypersonic flight
Top billed cast
Behind the camera
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United States of America
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Release dates
United StatesUS
- PhysicalExact date uncertain1 Jan 1962
Frequently asked questions
Research Project X-15 was released on 1 January 1962.
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