
X-15 #1 on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/125s, f/3.5, ISO 1600, EV 0, 28mm focal length.
The X-15 was a rocket-powered aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the early 1960’s. The X-15 set speed and altitude records reaching the edge of outer space and returning with valuable data used in aircraft and spacecraft design. Another version of the X-15 still holds the official world record for the highest speed ever reached by a manned aircraft. Its maximum speed was 4,520 miles per hour (7,274 km/h) or Mach 6.72 meaning it went 6.72 times the speed of sound.
A larger version of the X-15 was considered for the first United States (US) orbital flight. I sometimes wonder if NASA had gone in this direction how much different the space program might have gone. X-15 flights started in 1959 some 22 years before the first Space Shuttle mission.
The National Air and Space Museum has the historic X-15 #1 on display which was first piloted by Neil Armstrong who later became the first Man to walk on the Moon.
Love that museum… have spent countless hours wandering around looking at the exhibits.
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That is very cool. LaMirada Bob would’ve loved it.
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