 It also supported the development of the extremely high-altitude and long-range Lockheed U-2 and the dazzling ultra-performance capabilities of the B-58 Hustler, the world's first Mach 2 bomber.Throughout the 1950s, American airplanes regularly broke absolute speed and altitude records at Edwards, but nothing compared to the arrival of the North American X-15 in 1961.The program got underway in earnest in 1961 when Maj. Robert M. "Bob" White became the first man to exceed Mach 4, as he accelerated to on 7 March.