The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings into Space

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, Quote

The X-15 Rocket Plane Outward Odyssey A People’s History of Spaceflight Series editor Colin Burgess The X-15 Rocket Plane Flying the First Wings into Space U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E B R A S K A P R E S S ¥ L I N C O L N A N D L O N D O N Michelle Evans Foreword by Joe H. Engle © 2013 by Michelle Evans Foreword © 2013 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Evans, Michelle, 1955– The x-15 rocket plane: flying the first wings into space / Michelle Evans; foreword by Joe H. Engle. pages cm.—(Outward odyssey: a people’s history of spaceflight) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-8032-2840-5 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. x-15 (Rocket aircraft) 2. Research aircraft—United States. 3. Aerodynamics , Hypersonic—Research— United States—History. I. Title. tl789.8.u6x514 2013 629.133'38—dc23 2012047260 Set in Adobe Garamond and Futura by Laura Wellington. This work is dedicated to all the men and women who made the x-15 possible, in flight, on the ground, and behind the scenes, and to Milt Thompson for giving me that first interview. And a very special dedication to Cherie, my partner in life, my wife, my muse, without whose love and support this book would have never found light. And to Fluffy and Max, who stood vigil at my computer for so many years. [Man] is a tough creature who has traveled here by a very long road. His nature has been shaped and his virtues ingrained by many millions of years of struggle, fear, and pain, and his spirit has, from the earliest dawn of history, shown itself upon occasion capable of mounting to the sublime, far above material conditions or mortal terrors. Winston Churchill (1874–1965) ...