This 33-second video from 1967 shows the X-15A-2, with two external fuel tanks attached underneath its wings, being dropped from the B-52 Mothership and performing a test flight over California's Mojave Desert. In June 1967, the X-15A-2 rocket-powered research aircraft received a full-scale ablative coating to protect the aircraft from the high temperatures associated with hypersonic flight (above Mach 5).

This pink eraser-like substance, applied to the X-15A-2 aircraft (56-6671), was then covered with a white sealant coat before flight. This coating would help the X-15A-2 aircraft reach a record speed of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7).

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