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Late in the year of 1954, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) issued a requirement for an air-launched manned research vehicle with a maximum speed of more than Mach 6 and a maximum altitude of more than fifty miles. North American Aviation Incorporated was awarded the contract for the new research vehicle, the X-15.
Developed under USAF Project MX-1226, three X-15s were built and together made 199 flights during a research program which lasted from 1959 to 1968, exceeding all speed and altitude goals set. The X-15 was designed to fly at speeds of Mach 6 and altitudes up to 250,000 feet. The aircraft went on to reach a maximum speed of Mach 6.7 and a maximum altitude of 354,200 feet. Mach 6 is about one mile per second and flight above 265,000 feet qualifies an Air Force pilot as an astronaut.
The X-15 made its public appearance on 15 October 1958 at North American's Los Angeles facility and the first of the three X-15s arrived at Edwards AFB two days later. On 10 March 1959, with project pilot A. Scott Crossfield at the controls, the X-15 made its first captive-carry flight under the right wing of a B-52 carrier aircraft. On 8 June 1959, it made its first glide flight, reaching a speed of 522mph (Mach 0.79) from a release altitude of 52,341 feet.
During a test flight, the X-15 would be air-launched by NASA's converted B-52 at an altitude of 45,000 feet and a speed of 500 mph. Generally, there were two types of flight profiles: high-speed or high-altitude. High-speed flights were usually conducted below an altitude of 100,000 feet and flown as a conventional airplane using aerodynamic controls. High-altitude flights began with a steep, full-power climb to leave the atmosphere. This was followed by up to two minutes of "coasting up" to peak altitude after the engine was shut down. High-altitude flights usually lasted for 2-5 minutes as it made a ballistic arc before reentering the atmosphere. A reaction control system, employing hydrogen peroxide thrusters located on the nose and wings, was used to maintain attitude above the atmosphere.
A typical research flight lasted about 10 or 11 minutes while covering nearly 400 miles along a course that stretched from Smith Ranch, Nevada to Edwards Air Force Base.
The X-15 program made many accomplishments, here is list of some of its contributions to space
flight:
| Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | North American | ||
| Designation: | X-15 | ||
| Type: | X Plane (Special Research/Experimental A/C) | ||
| First Flew: | Jun 8 1959 | ||
| Specifications | |||
| Length: | 50' 3" | 15.32 M | |
| Height: | 11' 7" | 3.53 M | |
| Wingspan: | 22' 4" | 6.81 M | |
| Empty Weight: | 11374.0 lbs | 5158.00 Kg | |
| Gross Weight: | 31275.0 lbs | 14183.0 Kg | |
| Propulsion | |||
| No. of Engines: | 1 | ||
| Powerplant: | Reaction Motors XLR-99 rocket engine | ||
| Thrust: | 57000 lbs | ||
| Performance | |||
| Range: | 275 miles | 442.00 Km | |
| Max Speed: | 4104.00 Mph | 6608.00 Km/H | 3571.89 Kt |
| Ceiling: | 314750 Ft | 95931.0 M | |
