OTD In Space – July 17: X-15 Breaks Altitude Record
On July 17, 1962, the American test pilot Bob White broke the world record for the highest altitude flight.
He took off from Edwards Air Force Base in a rocket-powered X-15 aircraft and made it to an altitude of 314,750 feet. That's almost 60 miles! At the time, the Air Force considered the edge of space to be 50 miles above the Earth. So White received astronaut wings for his record-breaking spaceflight.
He took off from Edwards Air Force Base in a rocket-powered X-15 aircraft and made it to an altitude of 314,750 feet. That's almost 60 miles! At the time, the Air Force considered the edge of space to be 50 miles above the Earth. So White received astronaut wings for his record-breaking spaceflight.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:03In 1962, the American test pilot Bob White broke the world record for the highest altitude flight.
00:08He took off from Edwards Air Force Base in a rocket-powered X-15 aircraft
00:12and made it to an altitude of 314,750 feet.
00:16That's almost 60 miles.
00:18At the time, the Air Force considered the edge of space to be 50 miles above the Earth.
00:22So White received astronaut wings for his record-breaking spaceflight.
00:26And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:30NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology