This flying object 'tears the sky' is a wonder of American technology: Set a record that has not been broken for 55 years

It is one of the most successful study programs in the history of aviation.

60 years ago, Robert Michael White returned from space, but unlike most astronauts, he didn't get there by spacecraft.

Instead, he flew with a modern rocket-powered aircraft called the X-15. This made him the first American astronaut to go to space without a traditional spacecraft. And his flight on July 17, 1962 paved the way for space tourism and opened a debate about where to call the edge of space.

One of the things that makes Robert Michael White's space flight unique (1924 - 2010) is that for the first time in history, this American pilot can control his own orbit. - from take-off to landing.

The four Americans who have been to space before Robert Michael White are all members of NASA's Mercury Seven astronaut detachment in Langley, Virginia, USA - and their launches are remotely controlled by the ground control team. .

To get that 1962 record as well as many other records set later, the Americans worked hard to develop a supersonic flight program called X-15. What exactly is this program like?

US-Soviet rivalry: Paving the way for new records

The NASA Mercury Program missions were largely an attempt to balance the Soviet advance in space following the successful launch of the artificial satellite Sputnik 1 in October 1957.

After that event, the Cold War (1946-1991) rose to new heights as Americans feared losing the space race with the Soviet Union. After its birth, the supersonic winged X-15 rocket aircraft restored the Soviet-American balance and paved the way for human-controlled space flight.

Mercury Seven and the Mercury missions take place under the direction of NASA. But astronaut Robert Michael White is part of a separate program of cooperation between the US Air Force and NASA to test aircraft carrying supersonic cruise missiles known as the X-15 Program.

The X-15 program represents an unprecedented acceleration in the development of American aviation. The X-15 set speed and altitude records in the 1960s, reaching the edge of space and returning with valuable data used in later aircraft and spacecraft designs.

Achieving supersonic speed (much greater than the speed of sound) is no small feat. These planes, developed in the 60s of the 20th century, were clearly created and tested to fly faster than the speed of sound. These are the types of aircraft that generate Mach waves by breaking the sound barrier.

Michelle Evans, author of "X-15: Rocket Plane Flying the First Wings into Space" (roughly translated: X-15: The first winged rocket into space), emphasized the incredible success. symbol of the X-15 Program, even by today's standards.

Robert Michael White quickly set a record in the X-15 Program when flying at 3,661km/h. He was also the first person to reach Mach 4 (4,939 km/h), and within the next eight months, he continued to control the X-15 to reach Mach 5 (6,173 km/h).

Historically, Robert Michael White is credited with being the first pilot to reach speeds of Mach 3, 4 and 5. However, it was the X-15 space flight on July 17, 1962 that brought him to the page. cover of Life Magazine in August of that year and became a celebrity.

Robert Michael White is credited with being the first pilot to reach speeds of Mach 3, 4, and 5.

While Robert Michael White held the record at the time (in 1962) for the highest altitude achieved by a winged aircraft, the world record for the fastest speed ever achieved by a manned aircraft The flight was carried out by another pilot in the X-15 Program on 3 October 1967, William J. Knight (1929 – 2004), when he reached Mach 6.7 (7,274 km). /hour) - A supersonic speed.

One Mach is the ratio of the speed of an object to the speed of sound, so pilot William J. Knight was traveling in the X-15 6.7 times faster than the speed of sound - a high level. The most ever achieved in an airplane. The speed record for the X-15A-2 manned aircraft that William J. Knight made still stands today after 55 years have passed, according to NASA data.

"Everyone knows Blackbird - a long-range strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed Corporation and used by the US Air Force and NASA. However, the Blackbird is only half as fast as the X-15. Over 50 years ago. go, no vehicle has yet achieved what the X-15 did (in terms of speed and altitude). And it was not until 2004 that "something" beat the X-15 in altitude" Michelle Evans explains.

William J. Knight - the X-15 driver reached a record speed that no one had broken after 55 years.

As it turns out, the X-15 Program, and Robert Michael White's historic flight into space, paved the way not only for advancement in the military field but also for space tourism.

The "something" Michelle Evans alluded to in altitude overtaking X-15 in 2004 was that SpaceShipOne, a rocket-powered private jet capable of reaching suborbital altitudes, won. The Ansari X-Prize prize is worth $10 million and ushers in a new era for space travel.

The altitude that SpaceShipOne reached in 2004 was 112 km, breaking the previous record held by the X-15 for more than 40 years (at an altitude of 108 km).

[Ansari X-Prize is an award given to the first non-governmental organization that can build a vehicle that can carry passengers into space multiple times].

SpaceShipOne gradually evolved into SpaceShipTwo, a spacecraft owned and operated by the US spaceflight company Virgin Galactic.

Where does space begin?

The definition of space for tourists, pilots and governments is not without controversy. However, international law never defines the actual boundaries of space. There are different institutional definitions of what spatial boundaries mean.

So far, there are 2 conventions defining "Edge of Space":

• The International Aeronautics Federation (FAI) defines space as starting at 100 km above the ground - By this convention, the Kármán Line at 100 km is the edge of space.
• Meanwhile, NASA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Air Force (USAF) often convention, the altitude from 80 km above the ground is the edge of space.

In 2021, the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft belonging to British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic company flew to an altitude of more than 80 km above the ground, while the New Shepard spacecraft belonging to the US billionaire's space company Blue Origin. Jeff Bezos flew to an altitude of 101 km.

SpaceShipTwo returns from test flight.

The Kármán line attempts to determine the threshold between space and the Earth's atmosphere. It is named after the Hungarian-American physicist and engineer Theodore von Kármán (1881-1963), who worked in aeronautics and space travel. In 1957, Theodore von Kármán was the first to attempt to determine the altitude limit between the Earth's atmosphere and space.

This concept is intended to define a threshold at which an object is subjected to atmospheric forces rather than gravity. Since the atmosphere - and the objects in space themselves - are volatile by nature, the choice of a particular boundary is relative.

Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard Smithsonian Institution (USA), on the research team of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, supports the US Air Force's convention of the edge of space (at an altitude of 80km). ).

In a 2018 paper titled "The Edge of Space: Looking Back at the Kármán Line," Jonathan McDowell wrote a piece of code to simulate atmospheric variability, taking into account parameters that depend on things like activity. motion of the Sun, time of day and position. He ran that model 30 million times to get atmospheric density relative to altitude.

For Michelle Evans, the 80 km threshold also seems more reasonable than 100 km.

Oddly enough, however, Michelle Evans explains that while the US Air Force pilots from the X-15 project all receive the US Astronaut Badge (after they have completed their training and successful spaceflight) - NASA pilots, who crossed the 80 km but not 100 km threshold, did not receive the American Astronaut Badge until 2005 when it was recognized SpaceShipOne's job is an astronaut.

Several NASA astronauts in the "50-61 Mile Club" received posthumous American Astronaut Badge. Fortunately, however, Robert Michael White was part of the United States Air Force, and was the first astronaut to be recognized in the Air Force.

Bill Dana, an X-15 civilian pilot, received the American Astronaut Badge in 2005.

Relationships aside, Robert Michael White was one of the first pilots to see Earth from such a new and amazing perspective.

"The sky was deep blue. I could see the San Francisco Bay area and all the way to the coast of Mexico. And I could see the curvature of the Earth more clearly than ever. It was a wonderful sight. " - Robert Michael White said his feelings after the historic 1962 flight in Life Magazine.

For professionals, there are two things including: An excellent mechanical device; operated by exceptionally brave and skilled pilots - the outstanding legacy of the X-15 Program.

Hugh L. Dryden (1898-1965), who served NASA as Deputy Director of NASA, once wrote in the letter nominating the X-15 Program for a major award in the US in 1962 that:

"To the X-15 Research Aircraft Team, the scientists, engineers, technicians, and pilots of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); the US Department of Defense; and North American Aviation - who conceived, designed, developed, built and operated the X-15 research aircraft.

You have contributed valuable research information on hypersonic regimes and supersonic speeds to the edge of space, and thus have made outstanding contributions to America's leadership in science and technology. aerospace and in the operation of manned spaceflight.

This vehicle has made invaluable technological contributions to the advancement of flight. It also highlights the great skill and courage of the test pilots. The X-15 is clearly one of the most successful research programs in the history of aviation."