The North American X-15: airplane or spacecraft?

Question

Looking for opinions, really. I am quite familiar with the X-15 and actually spoke with Scott Crossfield on this very subject (when he was still alive)

Answer 1

The X-15 was actually an experimental rocketship which was used to explore the effects of high speed and high altitude. It flew to the very edge of space and was rendered obsolete by the Mercury space program.

Answer 2

By definition it was a rocket powered aircraft - part of the X series of aircraft (that included the Bell X-1 that ChuckYeager broke the sound barrier in Oct 1947)  It was built during the great days of the late 1940' and earlier 1950 where pushing the envelop in speed and design was in it's heyday (before designing aircraft on computers). It used both aircraft and spacecraft characteristic - to travel to the edge of space and back.

It was dropped from a wing pod off a B-52, then the pilot would light the rockets.  When all the fuel was gone they would glide back to earth.  Kind of an early version of the space shuttle.  It was such a cool looking airplane.  Check out the link below.

Answer 3

each X plane had a specific project in mind regarding its design. the X1 was designed to break the sound barrier. other X planes explored other flight regimes. the X-15 was designed to explore the high speed and high altitude ranges. it was also designed with a throttle-able rocket engine. the only reason the X-15 was air launched was to save weight and fuel. in all regards the X-15 is an airplane that can fly into space and return.

Answer 4

The X-15 was a rocket. It didn't take off under its own power. Rather it was launched from under a larger bomber aircraft. It didn't land under its own power either, but ran out of fuel and glided to earth like the space shuttle does.

Answer 5

Well, I guess it was technically an airplane, but it's purpose was to be a stepping stone to space. I think it touched the edges of the atmosphere once, but it was an air breather wasn't it? I don't think it carried oxygen or solid fuel.  

Answer 6

Both. It flew like a plane at lower altitudes with and engine (albeit rocket motors, not common for planes but not a first) and flight controls. At its max altitude it used reaction thrusters to maneuver, like a space ship.

The record max altitude was 266,000 ft in a tragic flight that took the life of USAF Test pilot Maj. Michael J. Adams, 11/151967, Flight 191. He entered a hypersonic spin while descending. As aerodynamic forces increased after re-entry the airframe broke at 60,000 ft altitude. Maj. Adams was posthumously awarded astronaut wings for his final flight in craft X-15-3; His name was added to the Astronaut Memorial monument, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

So it is a plane and space craft like the the space shuttle and Burt Rutan Spaceship one are planes and space craft. The all share the same feature, being carried and gliding. None of this eliminates them as a plane or space craft. Any thing that can fly/guide to a landing is a plane.

Where does SPACE begin? Some say 50 to 60 miles (264,000-351,600 feet), 100 km (328,000 feet and what X-prize required). Space shuttle flies at 300-400 km, but even there some air exist. Satellites orbit at 600-1000 km and up, where first signs of the radiation belt can be observed, particularly off the Atlantic coast of Brazil, where the magnetic field is relatively weak.

I think 264,000 feet is a good min number and the X-15 flew at 266,000 feet. Considering NASA gave Maj. Adams astronaut wings posthumously, makes the X-15 a space vehicle, low space but space never the less.

Answer 7

The federal budget line item shows the X-15 as a Research Aircraft.  That means that it was officially considered a rocket-powered airplane capable of limited space flight.

In addition to aerodynamic controls, it did have chemical steering jets to make sure that the pilot could position it in the right attitude to begin re-entry to the atmosphere after a space flight.

So the X-15 is (It still exists) a rocket airplane.  If you are in Washington DC go to the old downtown Air and Space Museum.  They have it hanging from the ceiling there.

Answer 8

I have been fortunate to see two of the three X-15's built.  One is located at the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio and one at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

The 199 missions were flown with the X-15s.

Highest altitude achieved was 354,000 feet.  Fastest speed was 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7).

I always considered the X-15 a rocket powered aircraft.  Neil Armstrong was an X-15 pilot.

When you see the space shuttle glide in for a landing, thank the X-15 program for the landing research.  Both glide in for a landing.

A number of the pilots were awarded astronaut wings.

If I remember my reading correctly, the missions only lasted between 9 to 12 minutes.  Which for me is still hard to believe.  

Answer 9

I would say it's a spacecraft, because it was designed to escape the earth's atmosphere, which it did.  

Answer 10

Both! The engine was a multi configurable scram/ram jet that could utilise the oxygen of the atmosphere and switch to internal hydrogen peroxide propellant for extreme upper atmosphere trials. Technically it was the forerunner of the Space Shuttle. It did not actually enter space as such, as the pilot would have frozen to death!

Answer 11

It is considered both.....it was a rocket powered aircraft and meet spacecraft requirements by exceding altitudes of 50 miles(US) and 100 miles(international) standards

Answer 12

My opinion is that the X-15 was not a space craft, but was a rocket-powered research plane. It was not built to stay in space, as a space craft would be, and was not able to take-off on its own. It was built to explore high speeds and the boundary of space near the Earth.

What did Scott Crossfield say it was?

Regards,

Dan

Answer 13

X-15 is a rocketcraft, which is closer to spacecraft. it is definitely NOT an airplane (in my opinion. -whatever NASA thinks)

airplanes are designed to operate in the atmosphere.

The X-15's purpose was near edge of space experimentation. It was supposed to operate very high up. It later also became a platform for sound and speed studies.

an airplane can takeoff and land under its own power, the X-15 needs to be carried to 30,000 feet+ before being launched.

airplanes use their wings as primary means of staying aloft. the X-15 relies more on its rocket engine, powered by liquid propellants to stay up.

after using up the rocket engine's fuel, it glided back. That is the only time where it can be considered an airplane. (or glider)

however, since it's purpose wasn't to help research gliding characteristics or unpowered flight, but rather rocket powered flight at extreme high altitude, it is a rocketcraft, bordering on spacecraft (the pilots who flew high enough got astronaut wings)

to say the X-15 is an airplane is like to consider Friendship 7 a parachute experiment. Friendship 7's purpose was to put a man into orbit. Just because Friendship 7 came back to earth dangling from a parachute doesn't mean it is one.

gliding back to earth from space is a method of recovery from a spaceflight. it is like the parachute used by Friendship 7. It isn't the primary goal of the craft's design nor the craft's mission.

it's just logical.

Answer 14

NASA officially lists it as an "Aircraft".

I realize that is not the answer you are looking for but that is what it's officially known as, since it does fit into the description of both an airplane and spacecraft.

The late Dr. Hugh L. Dryden termed the X-15 "the most successful research airplane in history."

To quote from NASA's own web site (where it is called a -  MONOPLANE): http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news...

"The X-15 was a single-seat, mid-wing monoplane with a maximum thrust of 57,000 lb."  

To further muck up this question, the aircraft has a rocket engine. Airplanes do not have rocket engines.....

In my own opinion I consider it a spacecraft. It does not have an air breathing engine, thus it is not an airplane, in the most strict sense.