OTD in Space – August 22: X-15 Sets World Altitude Record - video Dailymotion

Space.com

On Aug. 22, 1963, U.S. Air Force Captain Joe Walker flew an X-15 space plane higher than any pilot had ever flown before.  Walker reached an altitude of over 67 miles (108 kilometers). That's about 5 miles (8 km) above the edge of space! Walker experienced about five minutes of weightlessness over the course of the 11-minute flight. This was the second and final suborbital spaceflight of the X-15 program. Walker piloted both flights and became the first person to go to space twice. For both flights, he flew in the space plane X-15 #3, which also became the first reused spacecraft to return to space.

Transcript

00:00On this day in space. In 1963, US Air Force Captain Joe Walker flew an X-15

00:07spaceplane higher than any pilot had ever flown before. Walker reached an

00:11altitude of over 67 miles. That's five miles above the edge of space. Walker

00:16experienced about five minutes of weightlessness over the course of the

00:1811-minute flight. This was the second and final suborbital spaceflight of the

00:22X-15 program. Walker piloted both flights and became the first person to go to

00:26space twice. For both flights he flew on the space plane X-15 number 3, which also

00:31became the first reused spacecraft to return to space. And that's what happened

00:35on this day in space.

OTD in Space – August 22: X-15 Sets World Altitude Record

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended