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X-15 Flight 3-65-97, also known as X-15 Flight 191 (being the 191st free flight of the X-15), was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the North American X-15 experimental spaceplane, carrying seven experiments to a peak altitude of 266,000 feet (50.4 mi; 81 km; 43.8 nmi), above NASA's definition of the start of space at 50 miles (80 km) but below the Kármán line definition at 62 miles (100 km).
Twelve pilots flew the X-15 over the course of its career. Scott Crossfield and William Dana flew the X-15 on its first and last free flights, respectively. Joseph Walker set the program's top two altitude records on its 90th and 91st free flights (347,800 and 354,200 feet, respectively), becoming the only pilot to fly past the Kármán line, the 100 kilometer, FAI-recognized boundary of outer ...
The first X-15 flight was an unpowered glide flight by Scott Crossfield, on 8 June 1959. Crossfield also piloted the first powered flight on 17 September 1959, and his first flight with the XLR-99 rocket engine on 15 November 1960. Twelve test pilots flew the X-15.
On October 3, 1967, Knight piloted X-15 Flight 188, the program's fastest flight. Flying at a maximum Mach of 6.7 and a maximum speed of 4,520 mph (7,274 km/h), he set a speed record for flight in a winged, powered aircraft. [1] The flight was made in the X-15A-2, the second of three planes in the X-15 fleet.
He flew in three versions of the Bell X-1: the X-1#2 (two flights, first on August 27, 1951), X-1A (one flight), X-1E (21 flights). When Walker attempted a second flight in the X-1A on August 8, 1955, the rocket aircraft was damaged in an explosion just before being launched from the JTB-29A mothership. Walker was unhurt, though, and he climbed ...
X-15 Flight 191 Michael James Adams (May 5, 1930 – November 15, 1967) ( Maj USAF ) was an American aviator , aeronautical engineer , and USAF astronaut . [ 1 ] He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15 , an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA .
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Flight 188 was the 53rd flight for X-15 Number 2 and the 5th flight as the modified X-15A-2. The X-15A-2 used a reaction Motors XLR99 engine by the Reaction Motors Division of Thiokol Chemical Company. William J. Knight was a test pilot for the United States Air Force and NASA. The X-15A-2 Number 2 was the only X-15 to have the external tank ...