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| SCRAMJET FLIES AT MACH 10 |
| 2004-11-16 |
| A TINY unmanned NASA jet has soared over the Pacific Ocean to demonstrate a radical new engine technology by attempting to fly at a record speed of about 11,263km/h, almost 10 times the speed of sound. The 3.6m long X-43A supersonic combustion ramjet, or "scramjet" was to fly under its own power at Mach 10 for about 10 seconds after separating from a booster rocket at 33,000m, then glide to a splash landing. At that speed, approximately 3.2km a second, the aircraft would cover the distance from Sydney to Los Angeles in just over one hour. Scramjet technology, NASA has said, could open the way to cheaper, safer and faster flights into the upper atmosphere, with smaller and lighter craft. The flight was an apparent success, and confirmation of the speed achieved was expected to be announced later by officials at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. "The research vehicle was absolutely rock-solid stable," said Griff Corpening, chief engineer on two previous X-43A flights. "All indications (are) we had a successful experiment." The X-43A, mounted on a Pegasus rocket used to boost it to flight speed, was carried under the wing of a B-52 aircraft and released at an altitude of 12,000m over a test range off the Southern California coast. The rocket motor then fired for a 90-second ascent. Like its predecessors, the X-43A will not be recovered from the ocean. The flight was the last in a US$230 million ($298 million) effort to test technology most likely to be initially used in military aircraft, such as a bomber that could reach any target on Earth within two hours of takeoff from the US, or to power missiles. Scramjets may also provide an alternative to rockets for space launches. Unlike conventional jet engines, which use rotating fan blades to compress air for combustion, the X-43A has no rotating engine parts. Instead it uses the underside of the aircraft's forebody to "scoop" up and compress air for mixing with hydrogen fuel. The X-43A launched Tuesday (US western time) was the last of three built for NASA's Hyper-X program. The first X-43A flight failed in 2001 when the booster rocket veered off course and was destroyed. The second X-43A successfully flew in March, reaching Mach 6.83 - 8045km/h - and setting a world speed record for a plane powered by an air-breathing engine. That was more than double the top speed of the jet-powered SR-71 Blackbird spyplane, which at slightly more than Mach 3 is the fastest air-breathing, manned aircraft. The old X-15 was the fastest rocket-powered manned airplane, hitting Mach 6.7. Rockets do not "breathe" air, but instead carry oxidizers that are combined with fuel to allow combustion. Not having to carry oxygen is one of the advantages scramjets hold over rockets. Rockets can also achieve high speeds, but the weight of oxygen tanks or other oxidizers reduces the amount of payload they can carry. Tuesday's launch was expected to be the last research flight for NASA's B-52, which is being retired after some 40 years of service. |
| Posted by:God Save The World |
| #3 Rockin'. Awesome achievement. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-11-16 11:33:32 PM |
| #2 Mach 10 - slower when carrying weapons |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-11-16 10:27:12 PM |
| #1 Kewl! |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-11-16 10:25:10 PM |