The X-15 Rocket Plane

The X-15 Rocket Plane
Author: Michelle L. Evans
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 488
Release: 2013-06-01
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 0803246846

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.

X-15

X-15
Author: Dennis R. Jenkins
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 704
Release: 2010-12-08
Genre: Aerodynamics, Hypersonic
ISBN: 9781470025854

The X-15 was the ultimate "X" vehicle. Built in the 1950s, she became the fastest and highest-flying winged aircraft of its time. During 199 flights from 1959 through 1968, she collected data about hypersonic flight that was invaluable to aeronautics and to developers of the space shuttle. This book describes the genesis of the program, the design and construction of the aircraft, years of research flights and the experiments that flew aboard them.-publisher description.

North American X-15

North American X-15
Author: Peter E. Davies
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2017-05-18
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 1472819926

The revolutionary X-15 remains the fastest manned aircraft ever to fly. Built in the two decades following World War II, it was the most successful of the high-speed X-planes. The only recently broken 'sound barrier' was smashed completely by the X-15, which could hit Mach 6.7 and soar to altitudes above 350,000ft, beyond the edge of space. Several pilots qualified as astronauts by flying above 50 miles altitude in the X-15, including Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon. The three X-15s made 199 flights, testing new technologies and techniques which greatly eased America's entry into manned space travel, and made the Apollo missions and Space Shuttle viable propositions. With historical photographs and stunning digital artwork, this is the story of arguably the greatest of the X-Planes.

At the Edge of Space

At the Edge of Space
Author: Milton O. Thompson
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution
Total Pages: 426
Release: 2003-02-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 1588340783

In At the Edge of Space, Milton O. Thompson tells the dramatic story of one of the most successful research aircraft ever flown. The first full-length account of the X-15 program, the book profiles the twelve test pilots (Neil Armstrong, Joe Engle, Scott Crossfield, and the author among them) chosen for the program. Thompson has translated a highly technical subject into readable accounts of each pilot's participation, including many heroic and humorous anecdotes and highlighting the pilots' careers after the program ended in 1968.

Edge of the Universe

Edge of the Universe
Author: Paul Halpern
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2012-08-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 111823460X

An accessible look at the mysteries that lurk at the edge of the known universe and beyond The observable universe, the part we can see with telescopes, is incredibly vast. Yet recent theories suggest that there is far more to the universe than what our instruments record—in fact, it could be infinite. Colossal flows of galaxies, large empty regions called voids, and other unexplained phenomena offer clues that our own "bubble universe" could be part of a greater realm called the multiverse. How big is the observable universe? What it is made of? What lies beyond it? Was there a time before the Big Bang? Could space have unseen dimensions? In this book, physicist and science writer Paul Halpern explains what we know?and what we hope to soon find out?about our extraordinary cosmos. Explains what we know about the Big Bang, the accelerating universe, dark energy, dark flow, and dark matter to examine some of the theories about the content of the universe and why its edge is getting farther away from us faster Explores the idea that the observable universe could be a hologram and that everything that happens within it might be written on its edge Written by physicist and popular science writer Paul Halpern, whose other books include Collider: The Search for the World's Smallest Particles, and What's Science Ever Done For Us: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe

Dressing for Altitude

Dressing for Altitude
Author: Dennis R. Jenkins
Publisher: Government Printing Office
Total Pages: 540
Release: 2012-08-27
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 9780160901102

"Since its earliest days, flight has been about pushing the limits of technology and, in many cases, pushing the limits of human endurance. The human body can be the limiting factor in the design of aircraft and spacecraft. Humans cannot survive unaided at high altitudes. There have been a number of books written on the subject of spacesuits, but the literature on the high-altitude pressure suits is lacking. This volume provides a high-level summary of the technological development and operational use of partial- and full-pressure suits, from the earliest models to the current high altitude, full-pressure suits used for modern aviation, as well as those that were used for launch and entry on the Space Shuttle. The goal of this work is to provide a resource on the technology for suits designed to keep humans alive at the edge of space."--NTRS Web site.

Touching Space

Touching Space
Author: Gregory P. Kennedy
Publisher: Schiffer Military History Book
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN:

Project Manhigh took humans to the threshold of space using balloons. In the 1950s, a small band of Air Force doctors were on the cutting edge of the United States' space research programs. Working at the Aeromedical Field Laboratory at Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico, they used balloons to carry laboratory animals followed by human pilots above 99% of the atmosphere. Drawing upon flight reports and technical data, this book documents Project Manhigh and the high altitude flights that preceded it. The Manhigh flights were, in many ways, prototypes for future space missions. On each of the three flights, the Air Force placed a lone pilot in a sealed capsule nineteen miles above the ground. At such extreme altitudes, the pilots were well within the functional equivalent of outer space and needed the sealed capsule to survive. Manhigh existed prior to the creation of NASA and helped pave the way for human space exploration.

Icarus at the Edge of Time

Icarus at the Edge of Time
Author: Brian Greene
Publisher: Knopf
Total Pages: 33
Release: 2008
Genre: Icarus (Greek mythology)
ISBN: 0307268888

A futuristic reimaging of the classic Greek myth, as a boy ventures through deep space and challenges the awesome power of black holes. The beauty of the book lies in the images, provided by NASA and the Hubble Space telescope, and printed on board rather than paper.