Science: Into Space with the X-15

One 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.

The X-15 rocket-plane built by North American Aviation, Inc. is the second approach. It will probably make its first flight to the edge of...

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