Apr 21 1961
From The Space Library
USAF–USN–NASA X-15 flown to controlled-flight record speed of 3,074 miles per hour by Maj. Robert White (USAF) at Edwards, Calif. This was the first flight of X-15 with full throttle.
NASA fired Nike-Asp rocket carrying aluminum thermite and sodium pellets to an altitude of 34 miles, one of a series of sodium cloud firings in connection with similar launchings in Italy.
Dr. W. O. Roberts, Director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), announced that a national balloon flights facility would be established to encourage upper atmospheric research.
“19 Pages on Space – Inside Yuri’s Capsule” article in Life Magazine
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