Mar 9, 2013
X-15 #1 is carried aloft under the right wing of NASA's NB-52A on 17 September 1959 for its first powered flight. Scott Crossfield is at the controls; in a few of minutes, he will fly the X-15 to a speed of Mach 2.11 and an altitude of over 52,000 feet.
Although a fire broke out in the engine compartment, Crossfield safely landed on the lakebed at Edwards Airforce Base.
Over the next nine years, the three X-15s made 199 flights. They set speed and altitude records nearly every time they flew, expanding NASA’s understanding of flight in the hypersonic range.
An aside: I always liked how NASA's B-52s were painted 1959-60. They painted the engine pods flat grey sometime early in '61; way less cool.
