X-15

On December 17, 1903...

man made the first successfully controlled flight in an aircraft...

thus breaking a barrier that had existed for millions of years.

Today, man, with his intelligence and reason...

has suddenly come to the crossroads.

Some believe that the guided missile...

and electronically controlled space vehicles...

are the ultimate answers to space flight.

The recent orbital and suborbital achievements...

have been spectacular and extremely important.

However, man will never be satisfied in the undignified position...

of sitting in a nose cone, acting as a biological specimen.

Sixteen years ago, at Edwards Air Force Base in California...

a highly complex operation was initiated to develop an aerospace-craft...

that would satisfy the desire of man to maintain control in flight...

and in re-entry to the earth's atmosphere.

The spacecraft would fly, glide, and land...

completely under the control of the human operator.

And now, the X-15 is ready...

manned by a pilot who will make all the decisions...

for accurate control in flight...

and re-entry and recovery.

X-15 is the key to an operational procedure...

that will be directly reflected...

in the spacecraft and the space flights of the future.

The X-15...

the world's first manned aerospace-craft...

manned for this flight by Matt Powell, Chief Test Pilot for NASA.

This is the carrier...

an especially designed B-52 jet bomber...

lifting the X-15 to its launch altitude of 45,000 feet.

This is her crew.

Pilot, copilot, launch panel operator...

especially trained, highly qualified.

This is Chase Two.

The pilot, Lt. Col. Lee Brandon...

Chief Test Pilot of the United States Air Force.

He's also an X-15 pilot.

Today, he is one of the support pilots who will visually check the X-15...

through the countdown and then guide it back to the recovery area...

for the landing after the drop.

This is Chase One and Maj. Ernie Wilde...

one of the air force backup pilots...

getting firsthand knowledge of the X-15 flight procedures.

He's qualified in the X-15 with the small XLR-11 engine.

And today, he'll back up Matt Powell...

for a flight with the XLR-99 engine.

The XLR-99 rocket engine...

has nearly 60,000 pounds of thrust.

The final okay here rests with the pilot. He has control.

Maj. Anthony Rinaldi, USAF...

responsible for the human operator...

and his special equipment designed to support life in space.

Col. Craig Brewster, Chief, Human Factors Section...

United States Air Force.

Tom Deparma, X-15 Project Manager...

highly qualified aeronautical engineer.

He is NASA One Test Director.

With him here in the control room...

are the engineers and technicians of NASA and the United States Air Force...

who watch their tracking instruments and recorders...

receiving thousands of different pieces of information...

from special equipment in the X-15...

and from electrodes taped to the pilot's body.

This is the team.

Along with the high-range tracking stations at Beatty and Ely, Nevada...

they monitor and support the X-15 flights...

a highly complex project...

running smoothly...

completely operational.

This is Chase Two to B-52. Coming into position.

Acknowledge. Over.

Roger, Lee, this is B-52. Have you in sight.

This is Chase One to B-52. I'm in position.

How do you read me? Over.

You're loud and clear, Ernie.

We're five minutes to launch.

Radio on lower antenna. How do you read?

Five square, Matt.

Auxiliary power units coming on.

Confirm X-15 oxygen.

On X-15 oxygen, 1,800 psi.

Helmet-to-suit differential good.

Respiration rate acceptable at 20 per minute.

This is NASA One, let's get a good control surface check.

Chase Two, observe.

Confirm launch trim settings. Over.

Chase Two to NASA One. Surface check.: good.

Roger, Lee.

NASA One to Chase One.

You all set, Ernie?

NASA One from Chase One, all set, Tom.

McCully to NASA One.

45,000 feet, one minute to launch.

Okay, Matt, you've got it.

Coming up on launch point.

Roger. Give me a five-second countdown for launch.

This is final okay to all stations. Launch light is on.

Five, four, three...

Stop the countdown.

Repeat, stop the countdown. Losing source pressure.

Lox tank pressure 45, ammonia 30. Both decreasing.

NASA One to all stations. Stop the countdown.

Confirm source pressure failure.

What are you reading now?

Source pressure failure, affirmative. Below normal and falling.

NASA One to X-15.

Matt, is this a no go?

X-15 to all stations. This is a no go.

I say again, this is a no go.

Yeah, at four-and-a-half, I figure...

NASA One to X-15.

Proceed to alternate plan. Matt, can you dump the propellants?

X-15 to NASA One. Negative.

NASA One to 008.

How much weight can you offset by wing trims?

008 to NASA One.

Not enough fuel transfer possible.

Have to make landing with right wing. Critical.

Deparma to all units. This is an emergency.

The B-52 will attempt a landing with the X-15 mated.

Request all emergency equipment, all firefighting units...

deploy along runway 35 on south lake bed.

Repeat: south lake bed.

Leave the data on.

Keep the primary radio channel open. I'll use it from mobile.

Let's go, Colonel.

He should be on final approach in about 10 minutes.

Light the flares, please.

Deparma at NASA Mobile to Chase Two.

Chase Two to NASA 9. Go ahead.

Lee, advise control at beginning of letdown.

Beginning letdown, approximately five minutes.

They've all got their barometric chambers to go back down again.

Dumping lox from carrier. Maximum flow.

NASA Mobile to Chase planes.

Stay in close at the landing.

Okay, I'm coming in at your 10 o'clock.

About three miles north of our station.

We want to confirm that your Ram Air door is in a closed position.

It sure is.

Also, I want to verify that I did have...

tooling lever and louvers in LN 2 position on.

- Pamela, how good to see you! - Hi, Maggie.

How was your trip?

Hi, Diane. It's so good to see you.

Have you any idea how long Route 66 is?

You look indecently wonderful. Did you look that good...

- when Lee left? - You wouldn't think so.

- Come on, let's get your bags. - They're awful heavy.

- I'll take that. - All right.

- Is the coffee on? - Yeah, come on.

What have you two been up to?

I want to hear all about you.

Well, I tell you, it's another world.

All during that time, except when I was re-circling...

it just crapped out by itself. I've got it back again.

Roger.

NASA One, I'm tracking 76 miles east...

and 56 miles north.

Roger, NASA One.

You can see them!

- Where, Mike? - Right over there.

He's committed now.

Okay, come on. Let's get out there.

Now, take it easy. That's not the crash siren.

Listen. It's constant. It's not the short blasts.

- What is it, then? Can we call? - No, nobody calls during flights.

I'd rather hear that siren than the phone ring.

You have a good drag chute.

Chase Two to B-52, your front landing gear is on fire.

- You chickened out? - Yeah.

Can I still resign, Doctor?

- You feel okay, Matt? - A little stiff.

Where does it hurt?

Can you give me some details about the pressure failure?

- Sure, Tom, as soon as I'm out of this suit. - Good.

- You got a smoke? - Yeah, here.

All right, let's get you out of this thing.

- I got to get back to headquarters. - All right.

Lee, we're in here.

- Hi, Pam? - How are you?

- Let's go to my house. - To your house.

- Excuse me. - Come on.

All right, Pamela, why?

Because I couldn't stand my quiet, uneventful life. That's why.

- Just like that? - Just like that.

No, you don't, Pamela. No more games with me.

You fool. I came a long way.

You're a little late. I hope you enjoyed the trip.

Don't do this to me.

What took you so long?

Diane?

It's got to be love.

- Come on, I'll help you sweep out the place. - All right.

What happened? I was doing my homework.

I'm glad to hear it.

You know, that's exactly the word I was trying to think of.

"Homework."

Come on.