On This Day in Space! July 17, 1962: X-15 breaks altitude record, ,
On July 17, 1962, the American test pilot Bob White broke the world record for the highest altitude flight.
He took off from Edwards Air Force Base in a rocket-powered X-15 aircraft and made it to an altitude of 314,750 feet. That’s almost 60 miles!
At the time, the Air Force considered the edge of space to be 50 miles above the Earth. So White received astronaut wings for his record-breaking spaceflight.
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The X-15 rocket plane flew 199 times between 1959 and 1968. (Image credit: NASA/U.S. Air Force)Image 2 of 6[image error]
The X-15 rocket-powered aircraft begins its climb after launch at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, California. Image (Image credit: NASA/Dryden)Image 3 of 6[image error]
A photo from 1966 of the flight crew for the X-15 which was developed to provide data on aerodynamics, structures, flight controls and the physiological aspects of high speed, high altitude flight. (Image credit: NASA.)Image 4 of 6[image error]
Dryden pilot Neil Armstrong is seen here next to the X-15 ship #1 (56-6670) after a research flight. (Image credit: NASA)Image 5 of 6[image error]
NASA research pilot William Bill Dana is seen standing next to the X-15 rocket-powered aircraft after a flight in 1967. Dana died on May 6, 2014 at the age of 83. (Image credit: NASA)Image 6 of 6[image error]
The North American X-15A-2 rocket plane (front) and the Lockheed Martin Titan IVB rocket (rear) on display in the new space gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. (Image credit: U.S. Air Force/Ken LaRock)Catch up on our entire “On This Day In Space” series on YouTube with this playlist.
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