NACA and the Test Pilots Edwards …show more content…
This served as a preliminary research platform for NACA, and would be pushed further upon the NASA takeover. Overall, three different entities held worked on the X-15. Those three were the Air Force, Navy and NACA/NASA. The X-15 holds world records in speed for a manned aircraft that exist today. It also served as a high altitude platform that would contribute towards the Mercury Program. On one specific instance, Flight 91 in 1963, pilot Joseph A Walker flew to a record breaking altitude of 169,600 feet, making him the first astronaut in world history according to the Air Force. On this specific mission the lines between pilot and astronaut, warrior and philosopher, war and peace were blurred. Walker had waited his whole life for a moment such as this, as he found great majestic beauty in what he saw as he looked up and down the California coast. Such a position was perfect for him as he held a degree in Physics after