North American Aviation X-15A-2 56-6671 on Rogers Dry Lake. In addition to the lengthened fuselage and external tanks, the nose wheel strut is longer and the windshields have been changed to an oval shape. A wheeled dolly supports the aft end of the rocketplane. (NASA)
3 November 1965: Major Robert A. Rushworth made the first flight of the modified X-15A-2 rocketplane, Air Force serial number 56-6671. After a landing accident which caused significant damage to the Number 2 X-15, it was rebuilt by North American Aviation. A 28-inch (0.71 meter) “plug” was installed in the fuselage forward of the wings to create space for a liquid hydrogen fuel tank which would be used for an experimental “scramjet” engine that would be mounted on the the ventral fin. The modified aircraft was also able to carry two external fuel tanks. It was hoped that additional propellant would allow the X-15A-2 to reach much higher speeds.
The first flight with the new configuration was an “envelope expansion” flight, intended to test the handling characteristics of the X-15A-2, and to jettison the tanks (which were empty on this flight) to evaluate the separation and trajectory as they fell away from the rocketplane in supersonic flight.
Boeing NB-52A Stratofortress 52-003, The High and Mighty One, with North American Aviation X-15A-2 56-6671 mounted to the pylon under its right wing. The external propellant tanks have been brightly painted to aid tracking after they are jettisoned. (U.S. Air Force)
The X-15A-2 was dropped from the Boeing NB-52A Stratofortress 52-003, over Cuddeback Lake, 37 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert of southern California. This was the only time during the 199-flight X-15 Program that this lake was used as a launch point.
The X-15 was released at 09:09:10.7 a.m., PST. Bob Rushworth ignited the Reaction Motors XLR99-RM-1 rocket engine and it ran for 84.1 seconds before its fuel supply was exhausted. This engine was rated at 57,000 pounds of thrust (253.549 kilonewtons).
The X-15 climbed to 70,600 feet (21,519 meters) and reached Mach 2.31 (1,514 miles per hour/2,437 kilometers per hour.)
The test flight went well. The external tanks jettisoned cleanly and fell away. The recovery parachute for the liquid oxygen tank did not deploy, however, and the tank was damaged beyond repair.
Rushworth and the X-15A-2 touched down on Rogers Dry Lake after a flight of 5 minutes, 1.6 seconds.
Laika, confined in her capsule prior to launch. She has no room to move, stand or turn around. No consideration was given to return her safely to Earth.
3 November 1957: Laika, a 3-year-old female dog, died in Earth orbit, confined in a small capsule named Sputnik 2. The cause of her death has been variously reported as euthanasia or oxygen starvation, but recent reports state that she died from overheating when the satellite’s cooling system failed.
Laika was a stray dog found on the streets of Moscow. She was trained to accept progressively smaller cages for up to 20 days at a time, and to eat a gelatinous food. She was placed in a centrifuge to expose her to high accelerations. Finally unable to move because of confinement, her normal bodily functions began to deteriorate.
Two days before being launched into orbit, Laika was placed inside her space capsule. The temperatures at the launch site were extremely cold.
Laika. “The more time passes, the more I’m sorry about it. We shouldn’t have done it. . . We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog.”
Sputnik 2 was launched at 0230 UTC, 3 November 1957. During the launch Laika’s respiration increased to four times normal and her heart rate went up to 240 beats per minute. After reaching orbit, the capsule’s cooling system was unable to control the rising temperature, which soon reached 104 °F. (40 °C.). Telemetry indicated that the dog was under high stress. During the fourth orbit, Laika died.
The Soviet space capsule’s life support system was completely inadequate. The conditions which Laika was exposed to during her training and actual space flight were inhumane. There was no means to return her safely to Earth.
In 2008, Russia unveiled a statue of Laika at Star City.
Oleg Gazenko, one of the scientists responsible for her suffering and death said, “The more time passes, the more I’m sorry about it. We shouldn’t have done it. . . We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog.”
William Harvey Dana was born 3 November 1930 at Pasadena, California, the first of two children of Harvey Drexler Dana, a geologist, and Rose Frances Jourdan Dana. Dana grew up in Bakersfield, California. He graduated from Bakersfield High School in 1948.
Bill Dana received an appointment as a cadet at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. He graduated 1952 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. Lieutenant Dana served until 1956.
In 1958, Dana earned a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, California.
On 1 October 1958, Dana began his 40-year career at the NASA High-Speed Flight Station, Edwards Air Force Base, California, as an Aeronautical Research Engineer. (This was the day that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was established, making Dana the first new employee to be hired by NASA.) He was assigned to work on an X-15 performance simulator, and also to the North American XF-107 stability research program.
In September 1959, Bill Dana transferred to the Flight Operations Branch. One of his early projects was the North American Aviation JF-100C variable stability research aircraft.
NASA JF-100C Variable Stability Research Aircraft
IN 1962 Bill Dana married Miss Judi Miller. They would have four children, Sidney, Matt, Janet, and Leslie.
Dana made his first flight in the North American Aviation X-15 hypersonic research rocketplane on 4 November 1965. He reached a maximum speed of Mach 4.22, and a peak altitude of 80,200 feet (24,445 meters). He made a total of sixteen flights in the X-15s. Dana’s highest speed was Mach 5.34, 4 August 1966, and his highest altitude, 306,900 feet, (93,543 meters), on 1 November 1966. On 24 October 1968, Dana flew the final X-15 flight of the NASA X-15 Hypersonic Research Program.
NASA Research Pilot William H. Dana with North American X-15A 56-6672 on Rogers Dry Lake. (NASA)
Bill Dana also flew NASA’s experimental “lifting body” aircraft. On 27 February 1970, he flew the Northrop HL-10 lifting body to 90,030 feet (27,441 meters), the highest altitude reached during its flight test program.
Bill Dana with the HL-10 lifting body, NASA 804. (NASA E-20168)Dana watches the NB-52B fly over Rogers Dry Lake after HL-10 lifting-body flight, 30 November 1968. (NASA ECN-2203)
He made the first flight of the Northrop M2-F3, 2 June 1970. The M2-F3 was built from the M2-F2, which had been heavily damaged in a dramatic landing accident, 10 May 1967, resulting in severe injuries to the pilot, Bruce Peterson.
Wreck of NASA 803, 10 May 1967. (NASA E-16731)
On 23 September 1975, Bill Dana made the final powered flight of the Martin Marietta X-24B lifting body aircraft.
NASA Research Pilot William H. Dana with the X-24B lifting body, 1975. (NASA)
Bill Dana was assigned as the Chief Pilot of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, and in 1986, became the Assistant Chief Flight Operations Division at Dryden.
Bill Dana was the project pilot for NASA 835, the experimental F-15 HIDEC (Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control) and NASA 840, the F/A-18 Hornet HARV (High Alpha Research Vehicle).
Bill Dana was the project pilot for NASA 835, the experimental F-15 HIDEC (Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control), and NASA 840, the F/A-18 Hornet HARV (High Alpha Research Vehicle). (NASA)
Dana stopped test flying after 1993, when he was appointed Chief Engineer, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. In 1997, he was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. He retired from NASA in 1998.
Bill Dana flew more than 8,000 hours in over 60 different aircraft types.
In 2000, NASA awarded Dana its Milton O. Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award, and on 23 August 2005, he was presented NASA’s Civilian Astronaut wings for his two X-15 flights above 50 miles.
William Harvey Dana died at Phoenix, Arizona, 6 May 2014, at the age of 83 years. He was buried at the Joshua Memorial Park in Lancaster, California.
Captain Theodore Cordy Freeman, United States Air Force. (NASA)
31 October 1964: Captain Theodore Cordy Freeman, United States Air Force, was a member of the NASA Astronaut Corps. He was one of fourteen pilots who had been selected for the third group of candidates in October 1963.
At 10:01 a.m., Saturday morning, Captain Freeman took off from Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, Texas. He was on the first of two planned training flights, flying a Northrop T-38A-50-NO Talon, 63-8188, Northrop serial number N.5535. The weather was reported as scattered clouds at 2,000 feet (607 meters), with visibility 7 miles (11.3 kilometers) in haze. He returned to the airfield at 10:38 for touch and goes, but was instructed to exit traffic pattern because of arriving aircraft.
At 10:46, Freeman called Ellington Tower, reporting that he was 5 miles (8 kilometers) southwest, inbound. He received no response and 30 seconds later, reported that he was breaking out to the east. The tower acknowledged this transmission and instructed Freeman to make another approach. At 10:47, Freeman called, “Roger, be about two minutes.” There were no further transmissions.
Ted Freeman’s T-38 struck a Lesser Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens) in the vicinity of the airport. These birds weigh between 4½ to 6 pounds (2.1–2.7 kilograms). The impact resulted in damage to the left side of the airplane’s forward canopy. Both engines flamed out.
Unable to reach runway at Ellington, Freeman turned away from the airfield to avoid buildings, lowered the landing gear and headed for an open field. At approximately 100 feet (30 meters), he fired his ejection seat. The altitude was too low to allow his parachute to open and Freeman was killed when he struck the ground.
The T-38 crashed at 10:48 a.m., 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) south of Ellington Air Force Base, between Highway 3 and the Gulf Freeway.
(The Miami News, Sunday, 1 November 1964, Page 3A, Columns 1–3)Wings of Lesser Snow Goose and fragments of Freeman’s T-38 canopy. (NASA S64-38117)
Investigators found blood and feathers in the cockpit. Suspecting a bird strike, a search was carried out and on 12 November, the remains of a snow goose along with fragments of the T-38’s canopy were found approximately 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) southeast of Ellington AFB, and about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) from the crash site.
At 10:58 a.m., Charles Alden Berry, M.D., Chief of the Manned Space Flight Center Medical Operations Office, declared Captain Freeman dead at the scene. The Chief of the Astronaut Office, Deke Slayton, and Dr. Berry went to the Freeman home and made the formal notification to Mrs. Freeman.
Following an autopsy, Captain Freeman’s remains were transported to the Arlington National Cemetery, at Arlington, Virginia, for burial.
The marker for Captain Freeman’s grave, Section 4, Lot 3148, Grid AA-11. (Heroic Relics)Midshipman Theodore Cordy Freeman, United States Naval Academy. (1953 Lucky Bag)
Theodore Cordy Freeman was born 18 February 1930 at Haverford, Pennsylvania. He was the fourth child of John T. Freeman, a carpenter, and Catherine Thomas Wilson Freeman. Ted Freeman attended Lewes High School, in Lewes, Delaware. He graduated in 1948, and was ranked academically third in his class. While still in high school, Freeman qualified for a private pilot’s license. He then studied at the University of Delaware at Newark.
While at the University of Delaware, Freeman received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, and entered as a midshipman, United States Navy, 17 June 1949. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree on 5 June 1953. Along with 129 of his classmates, Midshipman Freeman elected to be commissioned as a second lieutenant, United States Air Force.
Later that same afternoon, Second Lieutenant Theodore Cordy Freeman, United States Air Force, married Miss Faith Dudley Clark of Orange, Connecticut, at the First Presbyterian Church in Annapolis. They would have a daughter, Faith Huntington Freeman, born at Bryan, Texas, 18 July 1954.
Miss Faith Huntington Freeman and Mrs. Theodore Cordy Freeman (née Faith Dudley Clark), circa 1963. (Larry Clark/Valley Times TODAY)
Second Lieutenant Freeman trained as an Air Force pilot at Hondo and Bryan Air Bases in Texas. He was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in February 1955 and awarded his pilot’s wings. Freeman was then sent for fighter training at Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1955, Lieutenant Freeman was stationed in Okinawa. On his return to the United States, he was assigned to George Air Force Base in California.
1st Lieutenant Theodore Cordy Freeman, United States Air Force, with a North American Aviation, Inc., F-100 Super Sabre, circa mid-1950s. (U.S. Air Force)
In 1960, Freeman earned a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. While there, he was promoted to the rank of captain.
Captain Freeman entered the Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 3 January 1962 and graduated 17 August 1962. Next he attended the Aerospace Research Pilot School. After completing that course, Freeman remained at the school as an instructor and served as a flight test engineer at Edwards. By this time, Ted Freeman was an experienced pilot with over 3,300 flight hours.
Astronaut Group Three. Ted Freeman is standing, fourth from left. Front Row, left to right: Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., William A. Anders, Charles A. Bassett II, Alan L. Bean, Eugene A. Cernan and Roger B. Chaffee. Back Row, Michael Collins, R. Walter Cunningham, Donn F. Eisele, Theodore C. Freeman, Richard F. Gordon Jr., Russell L. Schweickart, David R. Scott, and Clifton C. Williams. (NASA)
In October 1963, Captain Freeman was selected as a member of NASA’s Astronaut Group Three. The Group was announced to the public on 18 October. Ted Freeman arrived at the Manned Space Flight Center, Houston, Texas, on 15 January 1964. He and his family resided on Blanchmont Lane in Nassau Bay, southeast of Houston.
Freeman was not assigned to a specific flight, but Group Three was intended for the Apollo Program. Ten of the fourteen astronauts went to The Moon.
Buzz Aldrin and Ted Freeman, Friday, 30 October 1964. (NASA)Northrop T-38A-35-NO Talon 60-0582 in flight near Edwards Air Force Base, California. (U.S. Air Force)
The T-38 was the world’s first supersonic flight trainer. The Northrop T-38A Talon is a pressurized, two-place, twin-engine, jet trainer. Its fuselage is very aerodynamically clean and uses the “area-rule” (“coked”) to improve its supersonic capability. It is 46 feet, 4.5 inches (14.135 meters) long with a wingspan of 25 feet, 3 inches (7.696 meters) and overall height of 12 feet, 10.5 inches (3.924 meters). The one-piece wing has an area of 170 square feet (15.79 square meters). The leading edge is swept 32º. The airplane’s empty weight is 7,200 pounds (3,266 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight is approximately 12,700 pounds (5,761 kilograms).
Northrop T-38A-55-NO Talon 64-13302 on takeoff at Edwards AFB. (U.S. Air Force)
The T-38A is powered by two General Electric J85-GE-5 turbojet engines. The J85 is a single-shaft axial-flow turbojet engine with an 8-stage compressor section and 2-stage turbine. The J85-GE-5 is rated at 2,680 pounds of thrust (11.921 kilonewtons), and 3,850 pounds (17.126 kilonewtons) with afterburner. It is 108.1 inches (2.746 meters) long, 22.0 inches (0.559 meters) in diameter and weighs 584 pounds (265 kilograms).
The T-38A has a maximum speed of Mach 1.08 (822 miles per hour/1,323 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level, and Mach 1.3 (882 miles per hour/1,419 kilometers per hour) at 30,000 feet (9,144 meters). It has a rate of climb of 33,600 feet per minute (171 meters per second) and a service ceiling of 55,000 feet (16,764 meters). Its range is 1,140 miles (1,835 kilometers).
Between 1959 and 1972, 1,187 T-38s were built at Northrop’s Hawthorne, California, factory. As of 4 September 2018, 546 T-38s remained in the U.S. Air Force active inventory. The U.S. Navy has 10, and as of 30 October 2018, the Federal Aviation Administration reports 29 T-38s registered to NASA.
Northrop T-38A-35-NO Talon 60-0582 rolls inverted, northeast of Edwards Air Force Base, California. (U.S. Air Force)
29 October 1998: Senator John Herschel Glenn, Jr., the first American to orbit the Earth, returned to space as a member of the Discovery STS-95 crew. At the age of 77, John Glenn was the oldest human to fly into space.
The STS-95 mission elapsed time was 8 days, 21 hours, 44 minutes, 2 seconds. Combined with Senator Glenn’s orbital flight of 20 February 1961 aboard the Mercury space vehicle, Friendship 7, his total space mission time is 9 days, 2 hours, 39 minutes, 49 seconds. He has completed 137 orbits of the Earth.
Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95) launches at Launch Complex 39B, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, 2:19:34 p.m., EST, 29 October 1998. This was Discovery‘s 25th flight. (NASA)
