The X-15 rocket plane: flying the first wings into space

by Evans, Michelle

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Title Statements

Full title :The X-15 rocket plane : flying the first wings into space / Michelle Evans ; foreword by Joe H. Engle.

Summary

With the Soviet Union's launch of the first Sputnik satellite in 1957, the Cold War soared to new heights as Americans feared losing the race into space. The X-15 Rocket Plane tells the enthralling yet little-known story of the hypersonic X-15, the winged rocket ship that met this challenge and opened the way into human-controlled spaceflight. Drawing on interviews with those who were there, Michelle Evans captures the drama and excitement of, yes, rocket science: how to handle the heat generated at speeds up to Mach 7, how to make a rocket propulsion system that could throttle, and how to safely reenter the atmosphere from space and make a precision landing. This book puts a human face on the feats of science and engineering that went into the X-15 program, many of them critical to the development of the Space Shuttle. And, finally, it introduces us to the largely unsung pilots of the X-15. By the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing, thirty-one American astronauts had flown into space--eight of them astronaut-pilots of the X-15. The X-15 Rocket Plane restores these pioneers, and the others who made it happen, to their rightful place in the history of spaceflight.

Edition Statements

Publication Date:©2013

Publication Statements

Publisher(s):University of Nebraska Press
Place of Publication:Lincoln
Language:eng
Publication Date:©2013

The Physical Object

Description:xxv, 450 pages : : illustrations ; : 24 cm.

Edition Identifiers

ISBN:9780803228405, 0803228406, 9781496229847, 1496229843
oclc:ocn815824846
LC Classification:TL789.8.U6
Dewey Decimal:629.133/38

The whole nine yards -- A record high -- Gaining speed -- Naval engagement -- Changing course -- Straight and steady -- Skipping out -- On a roll -- Inconel meets celluloid -- Fastest man alive -- Chasing experiments -- In the line of duty -- Snow at Edwards.

Subjects

55.61 history of space flight Aerodynamics, Hypersonic -- Research Aerodynamics, Hypersonic -- Research --… Aérodynamique hypersonique -- Recherche… Avions expérimentaux -- États-Unis History Research aircraft Research aircraft -- United States United States Verenigde Staten X-15 (Rocket aircraft)