The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft which was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft.

2014年2月28日 · The X-15 was a follow-on research aircraft to the early X-planes, which had explored the flight regime from just below the speed of sound (Mach 1) to Mach 3.2. In 1952 the NACA had begun preliminary research into space flight and associated problems.

On Sept. 17, at the controls of X-15-2, Crossfield completed the first powered flight of an X-15. Firing all eight of the XLR-11 engines for 224 seconds, he reached a speed of Mach 2.11, or 1,393 miles per hour, and an altitude of 52,341 feet.

2023年10月13日 · On Oct. 15, 1958, the first X-15 hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft rolled out of its factory. A joint project among NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy, the X-15 greatly expanded our knowledge of flight at speeds exceeding Mach 6 and altitudes above 250,000 feet.

2025年3月20日 · X-15, rocket-powered research aircraft built in the 1950s by North American Aviation, Inc., for the U.S. military and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in order to gather information on flight conditions beyond the atmosphere.

The X-15 and other X-planes are more than a historical legacy for NASA. The program is the core of NASA’s an array of new experimental aircraft that will carry on the legacy of demonstrating advanced technologies to push back the frontiers of aviation.

The X-15 is a famous and significant part of aviation history. Its purpose was to fly high and fast, testing the machine and subjecting pilots to conditions that future astronauts would face.

2010年10月22日 · The X-15 was created to explore hypersonic (generally defined as five times the speed of sound) aerodynamic performance, research structural behavior during high temperatures and pressure, study stability and control during exit from and reentry of the atmosphere, and examine pilot performance and physiology.

The X-15 that hangs in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air Space Museum is the first of three built by North American Aviation.

The flights of the North American X-15, an experimental American spaceplane built by North American Aviation and operated by the United States Air Force and NASA, were conducted from 1959 to 1968. Twelve pilots flew three X-15 spaceplanes, flying record high-altitude flights, high-speed flights, and sub-orbital spaceflights.