Fans of Godwin's previous NASA entries might notice a few changes here: because this book covers an endeavor that involved three different aircraft on 199 successful flights over nearly a decade, Godwin had to modify his usual comprehensive reprinting of press releases and mission reports. Instead, this collection offers pilot biographies, NASA's semiannual reports to Congress, flight manuals, the complete proposal that won North American Aviation the X-15 contract, flight logs, the USAF's formerly classified development plans, and more. The accompanying CD-ROM includes hundreds of photos and hours of MPEG video footage, featuring highlights like the pink-eraser X-15A-2 and Neil Armstrong's farewell voyage before he checked out to become a bona fide astronaut. (If you're still worried about those missing mission operation reports, don't fret: the CD-ROM includes the full text for all of them, too.)
Such exhaustiveness can be exhausting for the faint of heart, but data junkies and armchair astronauts will no doubt revel in the minutiae. Even casual readers can find some fun stuff here, in between the emergency procedures and exploded engine diagrams. For instance, check out NASA's script comments on 1961's feature-length flick X-15, starring Charles Bronson and Mary Tyler Moore. --Paul Hughes