With the Soviet Union’s launch of the first Sputnik satellite in 1957, the Cold Warsoared to new heights as Americans feared losing the race into space. Thispresentation tells the enthralling yet little-known story of the hypersonic X-15, thewinged rocket ship that met this challenge and opened the way into humancontrolled spaceflight.This remarkable research aircraft held the world’s altitude record for 41 years,and still has no equal to match or better its speed of more than 4,500 mph.Beyond the X-15 are the stories of the 12 men who guided it into space, and allthe people who kept the rocket plane flying for nearly a decade. This is the storythat has never been told of the vehicle that was the true precursor to the SpaceShuttle by being the first piloted and winged vehicle to exit Earth’s atmosphere,and make a controlled reentry to a landing on hard-packed dry desert lakebeds.In her research, Ms. Evans interviewed nearly 70 people, including 9 of the 12pilots, including Neil Armstrong, Scott Crossfield, and Robert White, with familyrepresentatives for the remaining pilots. Others she spoke with includemanagers, flight planners, and the technicians and engineers who made the X-15ready to fly its next research mission at high altitude and high Mach.