1962: A “Winged Astronaut” Makes a Brief but Record-Setting Flight into Space

July 17, 1962

A new aviation record was set when U.S. Air Force (USAF) Major Robert M. White piloted a rocket-powered North American X-15 aircraft to an altitude of 59.6 miles (95.9 kilometers) above Earth. White’s trek up that far into the sky began with a bomber dropping his aircraft over Nevada. 

By subsequently zooming as high as he did at a maximum speed of 3,784 miles (6,089.8 kilometers) per hour, 38-year-old White became one of the few people to fly into what is considered space without a conventional spacecraft. This accomplishment earned him the USAF rating of “winged astronaut” — the first such recognition awarded to a pilot.  

The flight took 10 minutes altogether, and came to an end when White soared back to Earth and landed safely on a dry lake bed. “It was a remarkable flight,” he later recounted to newsmen when describing what it was like to be in the deep-blue reaches of space. “There were too many clouds to see the ocean, but I could see the coastline of the United States from well above San Francisco bay down into Mexico as far as I wanted to look. I could see more clearly than before the distinctive curvature of earth’s surface.”  

White’s trip into space led to his being featured on the cover of Life magazine; the quote accompanying this photo was “Boy, That Was a Ride.” White, who died in 2010, was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2006.  

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on Robert M. White, please check out https://www.nasa.gov/topics/aeronautics/features/robert-white.html