The X-15 Rocket Plane : Flying the First Wings into Space Hardback
by Michelle Evans
Part of the Outward Odyssey: A People's History of Spaceflight series
Hardback
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Description
With the Soviet Union’s launch of the first Sputnik satellite in 1957, the Cold War soared to new heights as Americans feared losing the race into space.
The X-15 Rocket Plane tells the enthralling yet little-known story of the hypersonic X-15, the winged rocket ship that met this challenge and opened the way into human-controlled spaceflight. Drawing on interviews with those who were there, Michelle Evans captures the drama and excitement of, yes, rocket science: how to handle the heat generated at speeds up to Mach 7, how to make a rocket-propulsion system that could throttle, and how to safely reenter the atmosphere from space and make a precision landing. This book puts a human face on the feats of science and engineering that went into the X-15 program, many of them critical to the development of the space shuttle. And, finally, it introduces us to the largely unsung pilots of the X-15.
By the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing, thirty-one American astronauts had flown into space—eight of them astronaut-pilots of the X-15.
The X-15 Rocket Plane restores these pioneers to their rightful place in the history of spaceflight.
Information
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Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:480 pages, 45 photographs, 1 glossary
- Publisher:University of Nebraska Press
- Publication Date:01/06/2013
- Category:
- ISBN:9780803228405
Other Formats
- EPUB from £21.31
- Paperback / softback from £21.35
Information
-
Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:480 pages, 45 photographs, 1 glossary
- Publisher:University of Nebraska Press
- Publication Date:01/06/2013
- Category:
- ISBN:9780803228405