[andyh1956]

OK what happened on this day in 1963? How many Yall were around to see it?
Every boy I knew was talking about it!
The record was broken, by the USA of course!
Hint- It was used twice for the same purpose, but broke the record on the second try!
Go USA!

Bonus question- Two other records broken at the same time in the other record breaking attempt!

 

[XXXMarine]

Altitude record of 67 miles by the X-15.

 

[andyh1956]

Altitude record of 67 miles by the X-15.

That's right!
Capt Joe Walker was the 1st civy pilot to go past the 50 mile mark twice, I THINK he was the 1st civy pilot to get Astronaut Wings & X15 #3 that was being flown was the 1st space craft to go to space Twice!
Man the next day all us boys at school wanted to be a Capt Joe Walker! All the rich kids had X15 models in a few days. But my uncle Jerry who worked at Redstone Arsenal got me an autographed photo of Capt Joe standing beside his ship! Now I was the Hot Stuff at school for a few days!
Capt Joe was a P38 pilot during the war, Damn Shame he lost his life staging a Photo Op for a bunch of Full Birds!

Joseph A. Walker - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org