| NASA Center: |
Dryden Flight Research Center |
| Image # : |
EC65-885 |
|---|
| Date : |
01/01/1965
|
|---|
|
Title
X-15 Mounted to B-52 Mothership Pylon in Flight
Full Description
This photo illustrates how the X-15 rocket powered aircraft was taken
aloft under the wing of a B-52. Because of the large fuel consumption,
the X-15 was air launched from a B-52 aircraft at 45,000 ft and a speed
of about 500 mph. This photo was taken from one of the observation
windows in the B-52 shortly before dropping the X-15.
The 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 manned hypersonic flight. Information gained from the highly
successful X-15 program contributed to the development of the Mercury,
Gemini, and Apollo manned spaceflight programs, and also the Space
Shuttle program.
The X-15s made a total of 199 flights, and were manufactured by North
American Aviation. 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. The X-15-3, serial number 56-6672, crashed
on November 15, 1967, resulting in the death of Major Michael J. Adams.
Keywords
North American Aviation X-15 Boeing B-52 Dryden
Subject Category
Top 20 Dryden Aircraft, X-Series Aircraft,
Reference Numbers
- Center:
DFRC
- Center Number:
EC65-885
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2000-000141
Source Information
- Creator/Photographer: NASA
- Original Source: DIGITAL
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
(Pixels) | Size
(KBytes) |
| Thumbnail |
.jpg |
91 |
73 |
14 |
| Small |
.jpg |
645 |
518 |
221 |
| Medium |
.jpg |
1512 |
1213 |
1,109 |
| Large |
.jpg |
3024 |
2426 |
4,706 |
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Updated Aug 20, 2009
• History Questions: NASA History Office
• Responsible NASA Official: Steve Garber
• Author: Michael Hahn. Editor: Dwayne A. Day
• Curator & Technical Questions: Erin Needham
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