A photo of the nose section of the X-1E with pilot Joe Walker suited for a flight at the NASA High-Speed Flight Station, Edwards, California. The dice and Little Joe are prominently displayed under the cockpit area. 
<p>NASA employees and the crew chief of the plane worked long hours preparing a craft for flight. A break from the tedious task was a welcome reprieve at times; hence the private joke between a crew and their pilot evolved. If you know the craps game you've figured it out! (Little Joe is a dice player's slang term for two deuces.)
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Five years later when Walker reached 354,200 feet in the X-15, that aircraft carried similar artwork - "Little Joe the II." Walker is shown in the photo above wearing an early partial pressure suit. This protected the pilot if cockpit pressure was lost above 50,000 feet.
NASA
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