Word: flighting
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Smooth Flight...
...rocket engine will have fuel for only six minutes of powered flight, but after its fuel is gone, the X-15 is expected to climb on momentum at least 100 miles above the earth, probably a good deal higher. This altitude is not strictly space; there is still a little air, but it is much too thin for an airplane to steer by. So for controls the X-15 will use six small jets of hydrogen peroxide gases shooting out of its tail and wings. When the X-15 is above the effective atmosphere, its pilot will feel zero gravity...
...approach to manned space flight is to put a man in a rocket and depend on a parachute or other drag-making device to ease him back to earth. Another approach is to fit a piloted airplane with rocket motors powerful enough to toss it out of the atmosphere. It will have wings of a sort for gliding, and the pilot will land it like a conventional but extra-hot airplane...
...rocket-plane built by North American Aviation, Inc. is the second approach. It will probably make its first flight to the edge of space in less than a year. Made of stainless steel to resist heat, it is a stubby-winged airplane only 50 ft. long, weighing about 33,000 Ibs. when fully fueled. Its single rocket engine has 60,000 Ibs. of thrust and is capable of lifting it off the ground like a ballistic missile...
Tricky Return. Return to earth will be the most ticklish part of the flight. The pilot will have the help of special flight instruments, and his object will be to meet the atmosphere at a very low angle to minimize speed and heating. The temperature of some parts of the structure is expected to reach 1,000° F. If the temperature rises too high, the pilot may point the nose upward to get into thinner air and let the ship cool off. Gradually the X-15 will lose both speed and altitude. When it has lost enough of both...