X-15 Flight 90
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| Mission insignia | |
|---|---|
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| Mission statistics | |
| Mission Name: | X-15 Flight 90 |
| Call Sign: | X-15 |
| Number of Crew members: |
1 |
| Launch: | July 19, 1963 18:20:05 UTC NB-52B flying near Smith Ranch Dry Lake, NV 39°20′N 117°29′W / 39.333°N 117.483°W |
| Landing: | July 19, 1963 18:31:29.1 UTC Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards AFB, CA |
| Duration: B-52 drop to X-15 wheel stop |
00:11:24.1 |
| Number of Orbits: |
Suborbital |
| Apogee: | 106.01 km |
| Distance Traveled: |
534 km |
| Maximum velocity: |
5,971 km/h |
| Peak acceleration: | 5g (49 m/s²) |
| Mass: | Launch 15,195 kg Burnout 6,577 kg Landing 6,260 kg |
| Crew picture | |
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| Joe Walker | |
Contents |
[edit] Crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
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| Pilot | Joseph A. Walker First spaceflight |
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[edit] Mission parameters
- Mass: 15,195 kg fueled; 6,577 kg burnout; 6,260 kg landed
- Maximum Altitude: 106.01 km
- Range: 534 km
- Burn Time: 84.6 seconds
- Mach: 5.50
- Launch Vehicle: NB-52B Bomber #008
[edit] Mission highlights
Maximum Speed - 5,971 km/h. Maximum Altitude - 106,010 m. 80 cm diameter balloon towed on 30 m line to measure air density. First X-15 flight over 100 km (a height known as the Karman line). First flight launched over Smith Dry Lake, NV. Experiments: Towed balloon, horizon scanner, photometer, infrared and ultraviolet. Balloon instrumentation failed.
The mission was flown by X-15 #3, serial 56-6672 on its 21st flight.
Launched by: NB-52B #008, Pilots Fulton & Bement. Takeoff: 17:19. UTC Landing: 19:04 UTC.
Chase pilots: Crews, Dana, Rogers, Daniel and Wood.
The X-15 engine burns about 85 seconds. Near the end of the burn, acceleration builds up to about 4 G (39 m/s²). Weightlessness lasts for 3 to 5 minutes. Re-entry heating warms the exterior of the X-15 to 650 °C. in places. During pull up after re-entry acceleration builds up to 5g (49 m/s²) for 20 seconds. The entire flight is about 12 minutes from launch to landing.
Pilot Robert White commented on his high altitude X-15 flights, "My flights to 217,000 feet [66 km] and 314,750 feet [96 km] were very dramatic in revealing the earth's curvature ... at my highest altitude I could turn my head through a 180º arc and wow! - the earth is really round. At my peak altitude I was roughly over the Arizona/California border in the area of Las Vegas, and this was how I described it: looking to my left I felt I could spit into the Gulf of California. Looking to my right I felt I could toss a dime into San Francisco Bay."
| 1st 100 km Flight: X-15 Flight 90 |
X-15 Program | 2nd 100 km Flight: |
[edit] References
- X-15 The NASA Mission Reports - by Robert Godwin - ISBN 1-896522-65-3
