{"product_id":"9780803228405","title":"X-15 Rocket Plane","description":"With the Soviet Union’s launch of the first Sputnik satellite in 1957, the Cold War soared to new heights as Americans feared losing the race into space. The X-15 Rocket Plane tells the enthralling yet little-known story of the hypersonic X-15, the winged rocket ship that met this challenge and opened the way into human-controlled spaceflight. Drawing on interviews with those who were there, Michelle Evans captures the drama and excitement of, yes, rocket science: how to handle the heat generated at speeds up to Mach 7, how to make a rocket-propulsion system that could throttle, and how to safely reenter the atmosphere from space and make a precision landing. This book puts a human face on the feats of science and engineering that went into the X-15 program, many of them critical to the development of the space shuttle. And, finally, it introduces us to the largely unsung pilots of the X-15. By the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing, thirty-one American astronauts had flown into space—eight of them astronaut-pilots of the X-15. The X-15 Rocket Plane restores these pioneers to their rightful place in the history of spaceflight.  ","brand":"Michelle Evans, Joe H. Engle","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45865095266622,"sku":"9780803228405","price":0.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4357\/7662\/products\/9780803228405_dcb5cfc1-5247-439a-a59d-719ee351bc73.jpg?v=1707330049","url":"https:\/\/exclusivebooks.co.za\/products\/9780803228405","provider":"Exclusive Books Online","version":"1.0","type":"link"}