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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).
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.
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 ...
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.
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 .
The North American X-15's Flight 188 on October 3, 1967, was a record-setting flight. William J. Knight took the X-15A-2 hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft to 102,100 feet (31,100 meters) over Mud Lake, Nevada when Flight 188 reached a record-setting top speed of 4,520 mph (7,270 km/h), Mach 6.70.
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 ...
November 15 – A North American X-15 on a high-altitude flight enters a spin at over Mach 5 and breaks up well above Mach 4, killing its pilot, U.S. Air Force Major Michael J. Adams. His is the only death during the X-15 program. [46] November 16 American aircraft attack the shipyards at Haiphong, North Vietnam, for the first time. [18]