Former NASA astronaut Joe Engle poses in entrance of an X-15 airplane on this Dec. 2, 1965, photograph. On June 29, 1965, Engle flew the X-15 to 280,600 toes, changing into the youngest U.S. pilot to qualify as an astronaut.
The Kansas native flew the X-15 for the U.S. Air Pressure 16 instances from 1963 to 1965. 3 times Engle flew an X-15 greater than 50 miles (the altitude required for astronaut ranking), formally qualifying him for Air Pressure astronaut wings and offering him a quick second for sightseeing on the fringe of house.
“You might look out and see the blackness of house above and the extraordinarily vibrant Earth beneath. The horizon had the identical bands of shade you see from the shuttle, with black on high, then purple to deep indigo, then blues and whites,” he stated.
Picture credit score: NASA