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Title: X-15: The NASA Mission Reports (Apogee Books Space Series) by Robert Godwin ISBN: 1-896522-65-3 Publisher: Apogee Books Pub. Date: January, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.57 (7 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A Good X-15 Systems Reference
Comment: I have been a huge fan of all the other volumes in The NASA Mission Reports series, especially the three volume Apollo 11 set, but when I bought this volume I was expecting more of an emphasis on the actual flight testing results (hence the title, "X-15 The NASA Mission Reports"), rather than a very protracted discussion concerning the contracting for the aircraft including such minutia as Annual Reports to Congress and budgetary memos.
I do like the systems descriptions and diagrams very much. They are quite complete and interesting, as is the background and history of the aircraft. I also enjoyed the reprint of the flight manuals, though you will discover that there are essentially two very similar sets of flight manual information that are fairly redundant.
Unfortunately, there is a relative dearth of information on the individual test flights themselves, with only general summaries being provided. For a better overall look at the program, I would recommend "At The Edge of Space" by X-15 pilot Milt Thompson (with forward by Neil Armstrong). The Thompson book is better at explaining the actual workings of the missions and results obtained, I feel. An added feature in the Thompson book is a detailed account of the Mike Adams accident in the third X-15, a subject of great interest to any potential readers of this book, but essentially glossed over in the NASA Mission Report.
In summary, I think this is a useful book, it is filled with extensive documentation from the program, and will be of great use to aerospace historians. My reservation is that, basically, it is a systems and contracting history book rather that a Mission Report.
Rating: 5
Summary: X-15
Comment: The X-15 was the first manned, winged plane to fly as high as 50-60 miles above Earth. Though the plane was not in orbit, the mission represents the first time humans ascended to those heights in a vehicle that had, like the space shuttle, the ability to return to Earth. Twelve men over nine years used three X-15s to fly 199 successful flights with only one fatality. This project, pursued jointly by NASA and the Air Force, is described in detail in 11 chapters that include biographies of the pilots, a history of the project, reports to Congress, the original research proposal, Air Force plans, flight manuals, the pilot rescue manual, correspondence regarding a Hollywood movie based on the project, flight logs, the accident report, and documentation prepared to ship the X-15 to the National Air and Space Museum where it now resides. There are eight color pages and reproductions in figures and diagrams that are often too small to be readable. The book contains a CD-ROM describing the program, readable by at least a Windows 95/Pentium 90 combination. All levels.
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent sources, the nuts and bolts of space enthusiasm
Comment: The "NASA Mission Reports" series, compiled by Robert Godwin, offers collections of essentially unedited original documents from the flights of the golden age of space exploration: press kits, operation reports, crew debriefings, the works. Since there is only a brief introduction to get things going, the casual reader will certainly be overwhelmed by the technical and operational detail. The decision not to "polish" these sometimes rather plain-looking documents in any way, or even edit out spelling errors from the original sources, gives the books a slightly "messy" quality. However, for these very reasons the series is a dream come true for the serious space enthusiast or historian: this is the real thing, a wealth of unaltered, unabridged information directly from the NASA archives. Holding history in your hands.
One of the most famous aircraft of all time, the North American X-15 flew to the edge of space in the 1960's and collected data on hypersonic flight that would be used in many future projects, including the Space Shuttle. Reaching altitudes of over 350,000 feet and a maximum speed of Mach 6.7, it arguably became the world's first reusable spacecraft, and an item of legend for every aerospace aficionado.
Since the X-15 was an entire program and not a self-contained mission like most other volumes in the series, Godwin's task of compiling documents within the format was more difficult than usual. He comes up with a varied and comprehensive selection, including biographies of the twelve pilots who flew the X-15, a contemporary 1959 development history by Robert Houston (Wright Historian), NASA's semi-annual reports to Congress, the entire proposal that won North American the contract, now declassified USAF development plans, and - the holy grail for aircraft buffs - the Flight and Pilot Rescue Manuals and Flight Logs for all 199 missions.
There is even some oddly interesting Hollywood correspondence on the long-forgotten 1961 movie "X-15", as well as the mandatory myriad of photographs, drawings and diagrams. Finally, the CD-ROM features some rare X-15 videos, an interview with pilot Bill Dana looking back on the program, several hundred photographs, and yet more NASA documents. That's about as exhaustive as it gets with just one book, and it demands conscious and patient reading to make productive use. Data junkies will find one of the most rewarding single volumes of the series, and rejoice.
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Title: Hypersonic: The Story of the North American X-15 by Dennis R. Jenkins, Tony Landis, Scott Crossfield, William H. Dana ISBN: 158007068X Publisher: Specialty Pr Pub & Wholesalers Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: X-15 Photo Scrapbook by Tony R. Landis, Dennis R. Jenkins ISBN: 1580070744 Publisher: Specialty Pr Pub & Wholesalers Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: At the Edge of Space: The X-15 Flight Program by Milton O. Thompson, Neil A. Armstrong ISBN: 1588340783 Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: Dyna-Soar: Hypersonic Strategic Weapons System (Apogee Books Space Series) by Robert Godwin ISBN: 1896522955 Publisher: Apogee Books Pub. Date: July, 2003 List Price(USD): $32.95 |
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Title: Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports, Volume 1 (Apogee Books Space Series) by Robert Godwin, United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration ISBN: 189652253X Publisher: Apogee Books Pub. Date: July, 1999 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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