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Home Front: Tech
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet
2005-06-21
NASA has been officially recognized for setting the speed record for a jet-powered aircraft by Guinness World Records. NASA set the record in November during the third and final flight of the experimental X-43A scramjet (supersonic-combustion ramjet) project. The X-43A demonstrated an advanced form of air-breathing jet engine could power an aircraft nearly 10 times the speed of sound.

Data from the unpiloted, 12-foot-long research vehicle show its revolutionary engine worked successfully at Mach 9.6 (approximately 7,000 mph), as it flew over the Pacific Ocean west of California.
More at the link.
Posted by:Spavirt Pheng6042

#6  Speed is range. If you can achieve 7 mi/sec, you can go to infinity.
Posted by: Jackal   2005-06-21 21:54  

#5  Forget the speed. What's the range?
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2005-06-21 17:55  

#4  That's 2 miles per second. What's escape velocity? 7 miles/sec? Of course a jet won't work in space, but if you zoomed it, could you go ballistically to LEO?
Posted by: Jackal   2005-06-21 14:16  

#3  Around the World in 80 MINUTES!

Well, actually, closer to 180 minutes....
Posted by: Bobby   2005-06-21 11:16  

#2  The zoomies will be able to hit the mullahs and be back at Whiteman for lunch.
Posted by: BH   2005-06-21 10:51  

#1  7,000 mph!!! Holy CRAP! Imagine that thing hitting a building! The crater wouldn't even smoke afterwords.
Posted by: mmurray821   2005-06-21 10:46  

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