CoolPix - X Planes: Neil Armstrong And The X-15 In 1960

(click pic for hi-res)

 This is definitely a great image for the CoolPix - X Planes category… Neil Armstrong in January 1960 standing in front of X-15 ship #1 after having landed on the dry lakebed at the Dryden Flight Research Center.  It’s just awesome to see him here about 9 years before he was the first man to walk on the moon.  Some interesting things to note are the skid tracks from the main gear legs, the apparent bottle jack under the nose gear, and Neil’s right hand placed just above the ball nose, also called the ‘Q ball’.

 Here’s some great NASA info that tells more about Neil and the X-15:

 Armstrong was actively engaged in both piloting and engineering aspects of the X-15 program from its inception. He completed the first flight in the aircraft equipped with a new flow-direction sensor (ball nose) and the initial flight in an X-15 equipped with a self-adaptive flight control system. He worked closely with designers and engineers in development of the adaptive system, and made seven flights in the rocket plane from December 1960 until July 1962. During those fights he reached a peak altitude of 207,500 feet in the X-15-3, and a speed of 3,989 mph (Mach 5.74) in the X-15-1.

 Read more about Neil Armstrong and the X-15.