Customer Reviews

X-15 Diary: The Story of America's First Space Ship

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A correction to a previous review: this appears to be a simple reprint of the 1961 title, and does not cover flights after 1961. The last flight described is Bob White's to 130,000+ ft. None of the truly astounding flights with the XLR-99 engine are covered. I guess you have to go to Milton Thompson's book for that.

Still a good read though. It's interesting to compare the X-15 to SpaceShipOne.

This book was written in the 60's, before Apollo went to the Moon and back so it gives the reader a first-hand insight into the maturity of space technologies at that time. With hindsight it is easy to forget that those guys were pushing the envelope in every single subject and no one really knew how things would fall in place. The author experienced the ups and downs with the main players and gives us a insight report on what really happened. He manages to strike a good balance between technical details and the human as well as the "mundane" side of the X-15 program (e.g. when he is waiting for a ride on an Air Force plane to Edwards or when he describes details about the pilot's personalities). I think it gives an interesting perspective on one of the key milestones of aerospace engineering.

I ordered the book about the X-15 plane and it arrived in plenty of time for Christmas! I was very pleased with the service.

if you've always wanted the full x-15 rocketship/plane story, then here it is. i have the 1961 first edition but was ticled pink when i learned that amazon.com has a new edition. this is a must for x-15/space/rocket buffs like me! tells story of how north american aviation, now rockwell international, paved the way for project mercury,gemini and apollo; not to mention project dyna-soar. i knew fomer apollo 15 astronaut jim irwin and he told me of how very important the x-15 was in his project, the sr-71 blackbird and project dyna-soar! also paved the way for space shuttle . the x-15 records and data are still used today! she is still the fastest aircraft/plane of all time, along with several altitude records. she flew mach 6.7/4520 mph!!!!!!!!! over twice the speed of a rifle bullet. and flew over 452,ooo high, on the fringes of outer space. i cant wait to order my copy. a must have. i feel that the x-15 is what helped neil armstrong qualify a a top contender for apollo 11. in order to qualify for astronau status, the pilots at edwards air force base took x-15 above 16 miles high and gained astronaut status automatically. another friend , scott crossfield who flew x-15 first for north american aviation before goernment/naca/nasa stepped in; flew all first flights of x-15. project lasted from 1959-1968. a truely good work this book is indeed. this book will cover the later missions/flights which i dont have in my 1961 edition. must read! tony