Notice a trend developing here?

My publisher (that sounds good. Let's try it again: "My publisher") has sent me a catalog of upcoming releases for Fall & Winter 2004. My book's not listed, since it's a Spring 2005 release. But there's some interesting material here, nonetheless. The title that caught my eye, however, and will fine its way onto my bookshelf in short order, is X-15 Diary: The Story of America's First Space Ship.

Built of titanium and a chrome-nickel alloy known as Inconel X, the X-15 was the fastest plane ever built, streaking through the lower reaches of outer space even before the first space capsules reached orbit. First tested in 1959, the X-15 proved to be a crucial testing ground for the astronauts and hardware in the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and even the Space Shuttle programs.

"Even the Space Shuttle programs" my Aunt Fanny. The X-15 was a better-designed, more dependable and more reliable craft than the shuttles could ever hope to be. The X-15 was a damn fine craft, and if SpaceShipOne can come up with a better name, it'll be a worth successor.

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