North American Aviation’s X-15 rocket plane reached 4,520 mph and climbed to 354,200 feet during a program that ran from 1959 to 1968, producing flight data NASA credits as foundational to later U.S.

The North American X-15 did more than set records; it quietly redrew the map of what a piloted aircraft could survive at the edge of space. By pushing hypersonic flight to extremes that still stand ...

An aircraft capable of hitting 4,520 mph (nearly seven times the speed of sound) is ludicrous to even think about, but the North American X-15 achieved this, defying comparison to any other aircraft ...

An important part of data collection for the United States space program, the North American X-15 had astonishing performance utilizing the technology of the 1950s and 60s. The North American X-15 was ...