Two weeks before Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin rode Vostok 1 into space to become the first human to complete a full orbit around the Earth, NASA test pilot American Joseph A. Walker took the hypersonic rocket-powered airplane, the X-15, to the edge of space, becoming the first person to cross the stratosphere.
The North American X-15 program was one of the most ambitious aeronautical research programs in history. The program was designed to answer fundamental questions about flight at extreme speeds and altitudes. In doing so, it quietly laid the groundwork for much of modern spaceflight.
Joe Walker with the X-15, 1961. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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Joseph A. Walker's Flight Into Space
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