During the Cold War in the 1960s the U.S.A.F. and NASA tested the experimental rocket-powered aircraft X-15 that set altitude and speed records and reached the edge of outer space.During the Cold War in the 1960s the U.S.A.F. and NASA tested the experimental rocket-powered aircraft X-15 that set altitude and speed records and reached the edge of outer space.During the Cold War in the 1960s the U.S.A.F. and NASA tested the experimental rocket-powered aircraft X-15 that set altitude and speed records and reached the edge of outer space.
James Stewart
- Narrator
- (voice)
Ric Applewhite
- Engineer
- (uncredited)
Robert Dornan
- Test Engineer
- (uncredited)
Ed Fleming
- Self (newscaster)
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe high altitude high speed experimental rocket-powered research aircraft X-15 was built by North American Aviation and Reaction Motors in 1955-56 and it was operated by the U.S. Air Force and NASA as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 achieved altitude and speed records and still holds the official world record for the highest speed reached by a manned aircraft. Its first flight was on 8th of June 1959. Its maximum speed was 4,520 miles per hour (7,274 km/h), its maximum altitude was 67.0 miles (107.8 km), and it had a range of 280 miles (450 km). Three X-15s were built and flew a total of 199 test flights. Twelve test pilots flew the X-15.
- GoofsAt the beginning of the movie in a close-up side shot of the X-15 hanging under the B-52's wing, you can see that the cockpit cover on the X-15 is not fully seated in the closed position even though they are in a countdown to in-flight launch. A launch in that condition would have ripped the cockpit cover off of the aircraft and killed the pilot.
- Quotes
Lt. Col. Lee Brandon: When you're a man, you be a man.
- ConnectionsFeatured in 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2012)
Featured review
The recent success of the SpaceShipOne spacecraft brought back to mind the early attempt at sub-orbital flights. Its designer, told us that he based his design on the X-15. Growing up in the 60's and 70's, the space race was part of our lives and the X-15 program was one more step towards space supremacy between the USA and the Soviet Union. Although this beautiful bird was finally shelved, the courage and vision of its designers merits that we take a second look at it. This movie, presented almost like a NASA -US AIR Force documentary, stayed in my mind although I was just a kid when I saw it on TV, some 30 odd years ago. Filmed in the early sixties, this story introduces the viewer to the team of 3 pilots that relay each other in the seat of the X-15 experimental rocket plane. The family life of these test pilots is also interesting as it is explained that these men need emotional stability to do their job. We are introduced to a young Mary Tyler Moore as one of the pilots fiancée. A young Charles Bronson plays one of these family men / test pilots with great presence .The flying scenes footage is of relative good quality but the sub-orbital scenes are poorly crafted animations that look terribly amateurish as we are now used to Computer Generated Images and other new special effects techniques. All in all, this is a good movie for any space race fan, and the DVD fits nicely in the library next to others such as The Right Stuff, From the Earth to the Moon and Apollo 13. I gave it a 7 for historical and documentary value.
- PhilippeIII
- Oct 8, 2004
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $422,500 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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