Author Michelle Evans will discuss her bestselling book, The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings into Space, at The Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, on October 10, sharing the research, challenges, and personal experiences behind her effort to document the people who flew and developed the X-15. Evans spent years tracking down pilots and engineers associated with the program, many of whom had received little attention despite their contributions to the development and operation of the X-15. Her book, published by the University of Nebraska Press as part of its Outward Odyssey: A People’s History of Spaceflight series, focuses on the people behind the technology as well as the aircraft itself.
The X-15 program pushed the boundaries of high-speed and high-altitude flight during the 1950s and 1960s. Evans’ work explores the experiences of those involved and the engineering achievements that allowed the rocket-powered aircraft to reach the edge of space. “The X-15 was the first winged rocket ship to take astronauts into space and back again,” Evans said. “It was designed in the mid-1950s, at a time when, to the public, rocket ships meant gleaming silver stilettos with swept-back fins, filled with astronauts in bubble-headed spacesuits, doing battle against aliens bent on the overthrow and subjugation—or annihilation—of Earth.”
Evans is the founder of Mach 25 Media and is a U.S. Air Force veteran, writer, photographer, and aerospace communications specialist. She was also featured on The Museum of Flight’s 2023 podcast, Michelle Evans – The Story of a Transgender Air Force Veteran. The October 10 program begins at 2 p.m. and is free with admission to The Museum of Flight. For more information and to support The Museum of Flight, click on this link: www.museumofflight.org.
