"The Nightmare" and "Specimen Unknown"
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Outer Limits Rocket Scout #1
Web site by: Phil
Broad
This is the original "Rocket Scout" used in "The Outer Limits" and was taken whole from the much earlier Projects Unlimited show "Men Into Space". This earlier series was a serious look at how space would be explored in the then near future. Sadly, humans have yet to achieve the level of sophistication in space flight as shown in these programs, even forty years later. Nearly all the space hardware seen in "The Outer Limits" (with the exception of the saucer and X-15) was taken from this earlier series. If you study the image above of the astronaut outside the ship standing on the wing, you will just be able to see the "US Air Force" logo on his helmet. In "Men Into Space", space exploration was the domain of the Air Force and the military agencies of other nations, the civilian agency "NASA" had yet to be created when the show was made.
In design terms, this scout looks a lot
like the proposed Douglas D558-3 which was similar in specification to the
later X-15. However the D558-3 had a longer fuselage and utilized a wing and
horizontal stabilizer combination instead of the small delta wing seen here.
Both designs feature the flairing conical aft fuselage which is used for increased
stability during hypersonic flight (above three times the speed of sound).
Like the X-15, the D558-3 would have had only room for one pilot, unlike the
design seen here which has a four man crew cabin. It is not known if the the
crashed rocket seen here is from "Men Into Space" or not. It was
used by both "Outer Limits" and "Twilight Zone".