At the Edge of Space: The X-15 Flight Program

In At the Edge of Space, Milton O. Thompson, a pilot active in the X-15 program from beginning to end, tells the dramatic story of one of the most successful research aircraft ever flown.

Initiated in the 1950s, the X-15 program tested a unique rocket-powered aircraft at supersonic speeds in the atmosphere's outer limits. The stubby-winged, needle-nosed craft achieved speeds of 4000 mph, could fly at altitudes of well over 200,000 feet and yielded data crucial to NASA's space missions. Thomson, one of the test pilots, traces the technical developments of the program, emphasizing the viewpoint of the men who (barely) controlled the unpredictable plane in the air. He demonstrates through a series of vivid anecdotes the effect of g forces, extreme vertigo and other mental and physical problems associated with supersonic flight. Thompson includes accounts of hair-raising emergency rescues and a somber description of the death of one of his colleagues during a 1967 test flight. Retired in 1968 along with the program itself, the X-15 now hangs in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Surprisingly, it is still the world's fastest airplane. Thompson's well-written history of the program captures the technical challenges, the camaraderie and, most of all, the high adventure of X-15 flight. Highly recommended. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The X-15 was perhaps the most famous of the X series of rocket planes designed to explore supersonic flight regimes. Thompson's engaging account of the joint U.S. Air Force/NASA program is part memoir (he flew 14 X-15 missions), part history. He describes the plane, the pilots, and the program that explored high altitude hypersonic flight, setting altitude and speed records that remain unbroken more than 25 years later. His firsthand account is filled with humorous insider's anecdotes that successfully humanize the technical aspects of these demanding and dangerous flights that paved the way for the space shuttle. Appendixes provide detailed data on all 199 X-15 flights that, in retrospect, make the reader wonder how the program was accomplished with only one in-flight fatality. Recommended for academic and public libraries.
- Thomas J. Frieling, Bainbridge Coll., Ga.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.