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X-15 Pilots Finally Get Astronaut Wings
Ginnungagap42 writes "NASA has a story about pilots Bill Dana, John McKay and Joe Walker finally receiving their astronauts wings for their work in the X-15 program back in the 1960's. Astronauts wings were awarded to the USAF personnel in the 1960's, but not to the civilian NASA pilots until now. The X-15 program was an important testbed for hypersonic flight. It's nice that all the pilots who flew high and fast are finally being recognized."
Actually, props aren't very useful in space, for the same reason that wings aren't. /gets coat
-mkb
... then what about Jose Jimenez?
-- Jim Crigler In 1937, I began, like Lazarus, the impossible return. -- Whittaker Chambers
Still in second grade after 47 years? Don't you think it might be time to just give up? :-)
The X-15 pilots were moving so fast, it took the medals and awards bureau 35 years to catch up with them.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
zipping past at very, very high speed.
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"Dana flew the X-15 research airplane 16 times, reaching a top speed of 3,897 miles per hour and a peak altitude of 310,000 feet (almost 59 miles high).http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/X-15
59 Miles should be enough to grant you space wings. They asked for a bit more for the Xprize (328,000 feet) but it is true than even spaceShipOne is gloating about "SpaceShipOne Wins X-Prize - Breaks X-15 altitude record"...
Now, if he had won the prize money, he might have been more "impressed" with the matter...
It takes 40+ muscles to frown, but only four to extend your arm and bitchslap the motherfucker
If you're posting on /., you have too much time on your hands. ;)
When spaceplanes are in common use, everybody will have astronaut wings. Bragging about earning your astronaut wings will be equivalent to bragging about buying a new toothbrush. BFD.
i-ight, nigga gone.
Another anecdote along those lines, related by Lt. Colonel William Burk Jr. in Ben Rich's memoirs:
In the fall of '82, I flew from Mildenhall on a mission to Lebanon in response to the Marine barrack bombing. President Reagan ordered photo coverage of ill the terrorist bases in the region. The French refused to allow us to overfly, so our mission was to refuel off the south coast of England....
We completed our pass over Beirut and turned toward Malta, when I got a warning low-oil-pressure light on my right engine. Even though the engine was running fine I slowed down and lowered our altitude and made a direct line for England. We decided to cross France without clearance instead of going the roundabout way. We made it almost across, when I looked out the left window and saw a French Mirage III sitting ten feet off my left wing. He came up on our frequency and asked us for our Diplomatic Clearance Number. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I told him to stand by. I asked my backseater, who said, "Don't worry about it. I just gave it to him." What he had given him was "the bird' with his middle finger. I lit the afterbumers and left that Mirage standing still. Two minutes later, we were crossing the Channel.