* Astronomy

NASA Armstrong Celebrates 70 Years of Flight Research

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics sent 13 engineers and support staff to California's Mojave Desert in September 1946 to assist in the quest for supersonic flight.
The X-1 aircraft represented the first U.S. Air Force designated "X" or experimental vehicle. It officially exceeded Mach 1 Oct. 14, 1947. Mach is measured from 650-750 mph depending on a number of factors such as atmospheric conditions and altitude. The NACA had its first supersonic flight, also on an X-1 aircraft, March 4, 1948.
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