Neil Armstrong as X-15 test pilot. US test pilot Neil Alden Armstrong (1930-2012), famous as the first person on the Moon (1969), made 7 flights in th


Neil Armstrong as X-15 test pilot. US test pilot Neil Alden Armstrong (1930-2012), famous as the first person on the Moon (1969), made 7 flights in the X-15 from November 1960 to July 1962. The X-15 was a rocket-powered research aircraft designed to investigate flight at hypersonic speeds. Three X-15s flew a total of 199 missions between 1959 and 1968. The X-15 was carried into the air by a converted B-52 bomber and released at high altitude. The pilot then ignited the X-15's rocket motor. It was the first plane to reach the edge of outer space and set records for the fastest manned aircraft (7,274 kilometres per hour, or Mach ). Photographed in 1960.


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Photo credit: © NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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