Major Adams Monument in Johannesburg, California

The X-15 rocket plane program is barely remembered today, but it was the first venture by crewed craft to the edge of space. The rocket plane, carrying a human pilot, would be carried to high altitude under the wing of a modified B-52. The plane would then be released, and the pilot would initiate a flight plan, firing the rocket engine and commonly flying up to the edge of space. A number of the pilots even later received astronaut wings, and some altitude and speed records from the X-15 still stand today. Air Force Major Michael Adams, the 12th and final X-15 pilot, was first selected for th

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