Three views of the X-15's original configuration, with which it achieved a maximum speed of Mach 6.06 and a maximum altitude of 354 200 ft. Its launch weight was 33 000 lb.; landing weight, 14 700 lb. The lower half of its vertical tail had to be jettisoned before landing, since, as the little head-on view makes clear, it otherwise would have protruded below the landing gear when the latter was extended. |
This cutaway drawing reveals the volume of tankage needed to give the X-15 its dazzling propulsion, its pressurization, and its attitude control in space. Liquid-oxygen capacity, 1003 gal.; anhydrous-ammonia capacity, 1445 gal. |
This diagram shows how the X-15 has explored the aerodynamic-flight corridor to a speed of 4000 mph and the space-equivalent region above it to an altitude of 67 miles. The aerodynamic-flight corridor is the pathway that reentry spacecraft of the lifting-body type would use to returm to Earth from orbital space stations. |