Incredible video shows the damage on NASA plane after record-breaking 4,520mph flight

A tour of the X-15 NASA Plane has revealed how this legendary rocket-powered aircraft handled becoming the fastest supersonic jet ever.

If driving at 70mph down a highway feels quick, can you fathom a vehicle that goes 65 times as fast as your Tesla or Toyota?

Well, some 58 years ago, the X-15 NASA Plane set the record for the fastest top speed ever achieved, as it ripped over Mud Lake, Nevada, at 4,520mph.

Now residing in Ohio, this legend of the skies is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, and you can watch above as NASA shows the extent of damage caused by hitting such high speeds.

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How the X-15 NASA Plane became a legend

Nowadays, commercial planes are picking up where Concorde left off and have begun breaking the sonic boom barrier at the speed known as Mach 1.

Planes like the Boom Supersonic XB-1 have now achieved this earth-shattering pace, which is the equivalent of around 700mph.

But back on October 3, 1967, NASA and the United States Air Force took extreme measures to break the record top speed of any vehicle of its age.

Piloted by William J. Knight, the hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft surged up to 102,100 feet in the sky and began cutting through the thin air until hitting Mach 6.7.

That’s the equivalent of 4,520mph.

Why did they do this?

Aside from being a flex, the rocket-powered jet was also a case study for NASA in how to build aircraft that would travel the universe.

It became the inspiration for the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle spaceflight programs that followed.

As seen in the video at the top of the page, this caused a lot of damage to the aircraft,

But that’s not the only remarkable thing that the X-15 NASA plane did, as it also became the first jet to visit space.

Albeit accidentally.

In research flights to test high-altitude – also setting the record there at 354,200 feet – two pilots exceeded the ‘Karmine line’, which determines the difference between our ‘air’ and that of space.

Crucially, these two flights preceded the moon landing, as the X-15 NASA plane had a huge impact on the making of the Apollo 11 shuttle carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

The future of NASA aircraft

NASA has been chasing the footsteps of the X-15 for decades, with the X-43 becoming the fastest plane ever in 2004, reaching speeds of Mach 9.68 (approximately 6,755mph).

Since then, the Agency has been targeting the moon and hypersonic commercial flights.

Two particular and vastly different planes are being used for such journeys.

The unorthodox Space Guppy is the first of these, which intends to be a Beluga-like aircraft that carries 3D printers and fuel sources to the moon to establish a human base there.

Then, there’s the X-59 supersonic jet, which intends to be the fastest public NASA plane, reaching Mach 1.4 (approximately 925mph), that can set commuting records between London and New York City.

All of this would never have been possible without the X-15 NASA plane.

Now, it rests in a refurbished state in Ohio, while its legend lives on.

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