Joshua Hyde Public Library
The Hunt for the X-15 Rocket Plane
From 1959 to 1968, NASA operated three North American Aviation rocket planes to great effect. In 199 flights they generated over 700 technical papers on aerodynamics and set altitude and speed records for winged vehicles not exceeded until the space shuttle many years later. In 1993, our presenter, David Ball, organized a search in the Mojave Desert for parts from X-15 #3 which came apart in flight in 1967. Today he will share what made the X-15 the greatest research plane ever built and his theory on why one was lost. Led by David S. Ball, a volunteer educator with NASA. As a Solar System Ambassador with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he presents topics related to American activities in space.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Tewksbury Library.