On Nov. 9 1962, an engine failure forced Jack McKay, a NASA research pilot, to make an emergency landing at Mud Lake, Nevada, in the second X-15. Its landing gear collapsed and the X-15 flipped over ...

Summary and Key Points: The X-15 program, spanning 199 flights between 1959 and 1968, pushed the boundaries of aeronautics into the hypersonic realm. -Capable of reaching altitudes of 102,000 feet, ...

An important part of data collection for the United States space program, the North American X-15 had astonishing performance utilizing the technology of the 1950s and 60s. The North American X-15 was ...

9NEWS 6 a.m. we opened up a supersonic window into a very unique part of NASA's early history: Nasa's X-15 rocket plane. It was the precursor to the shuttle, and the test pilots who flew it truly had ...

"The X-15, which flew from 1959-1970, is still the most advanced research aircraft ever developed and flown, and hangs in a place of honor in the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. Its test pilots ...