Decades before the rumored SR-72 “Darkstar,” America had already conquered hypersonic flight with the X-15 rocket plane. -In ...

The X-15’s sleek, black-painted airframe was coated with a heat-resistant Inconel X nickel alloy.North American Aviation designed the plane with stubby wings all in a wedge-shaped design to ...

A collaboration between NASA, North American Aviation, the U.S. Air Force, and the Navy, the X-15 research program included 12 fearless test pilots, including Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong.

The Talon A-2 hypersonic aircraft successfully completed its second test flight, passing Mach 5 on 24 March 2025.

Astronaut, X-15 test pilot and space shuttle pilot Joe Engle has died at home in Houston ... Engle entered formal flight training with the U.S. Air Force in 1957 and graduated the following year.

As a test pilot in a joint U.S. Air Force and NASA-run research program, Engle flew the X-15 rocket plane above 50 miles (80 kilometers), qualifying him for his astronaut wings, on June 29, 1965.

The Space Plane’s Compelling History. The X-15 flew 199 missions from 1959 to 1969, all of which yielded a series of remarkable accomplishments in the annals of flight.