Controlled Record

Soviet Major Yuri Gagarin holds the speed record (18,000 m.p.h.) for uncontrolled orbital flight (TIME, April 21), but controlling high speeds in the atmosphere is in some ways more difficult and may prove more important. Last week U.S. Air Force Major Robert White set a new controlled-speed record in an X-15 rocket plane high over the Mojave Desert. While still climbing gradually, he hit his top speed, 3,140 m.p.h., at 80,000 ft., beating his own March 7 record by 235 m.p.h. During the climb, White's engines blasted wide open, but the pull of gravity checked his speed appreciably. When the X-15 is permitted to speed all out in level flight, it is expected to reach at least 4,000 m.p.h.

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