https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/357e2a3b-86f8-4a3e-8cc2-8ea96215dcaa This 28-second video from the early 1950s shows the launch of the D-558-II from the P2B-1S Mothership over California's Mojave Desert. The Douglas D-558-II Skyrockets were among the early transonic research airplanes. Three of the single-seat, swept-wing aircraft flew from 1948 to 1956 in a joint program involving the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) - now known as NASA. The Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket airplanes were among the early transonic research airplanes like the X-1, X-4, X-5, and XF-92A. Three of these single-seat, swept-wing aircraft flew from 1948 to 1956 in a joint program involving the NACA; the Navy-Marine Corps; and the Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, CA. Flight research was done at the NACA Muroc Flight Test Unit in California, redesignated in 1949 the High-Speed Flight Research Station (HSFRS). The HSFRS is now known as the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA. The Skyrocket made aviation history when it became the first airplane to fly twice the speed of sound. For more information on the D-558-II, click here: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-035-DFRC.html Mirrored from YouTube: https://youtu.be/i_geK-rFWDM Original channel: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Wed, 15 Jul 2026 07:26:42 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/ec5edb1e-3795-4978-be4f-c67e98fbc992.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/357e2a3b-86f8-4a3e-8cc2-8ea96215dcaa All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.