Nasa plane to try Mach 7 flight - the X-43A

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Lifer
Jan 7, 2002
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Nasa plane to try Mach 7 flight
The US space agency will attempt to fly its experimental hypersonic research aircraft, the X-43A, this Saturday.
The unpiloted 3.7m-long vehicle uses a scramjet to reach a design speed in excess of Mach 7, more than 8,000 km/h (5,000 mph).

Scramjets burn hydrogen but take their oxygen from the air which is forced into the engine at very high speed.

It is hoped this technology could one day dramatically reduce the length of long-haul passenger flights and make it much cheaper to launch space payloads.


Nasa will just want its latest experiment to complete its goals without incident. The first attempt to fly an X-43A ended in the destruction of the vehicle when its launch system failed.
The new flight will take place over a naval range in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of southern California, at 2000 GMT.

A scramjet operates by the supersonic combustion of fuel in a stream of air compressed by the high forward speed of the aircraft, as opposed to a normal jet engine, in which fan blades compress the air.


But scramjets only start to work at about Mach 6, or six times the speed of sound. And this means they first have to be boosted to their operational velocity.
In the case of the X-43A, this will be done by a modified Pegasus rocket, which will be released from under the wing of a B-52 bomber.

If all goes well, the 1,300kg wedge-shaped research craft will separate from its booster and accelerate away with the power from its scramjet.

The engine should operate for just 10 seconds. The X-43A will then glide through the atmosphere conducting a series of aerodynamic manoeuvres for up to six minutes on its way to splashdown.

If successful, the test will mark the first time a non-rocket, air-breathing scramjet engine has powered a vehicle in flight at hypersonic speeds.

Engineering challenge

Scramjet technology was first proposed in the 1950s and 60s. Because they take their oxidant from the atmosphere, the weight of any aircraft is therefore substantially reduced.

Those weight savings could be used to increase payload capacity, increase range or reduce vehicle size for the same payload.

The scramjet attraction is obvious. If the many engineering challenges can be overcome, this propulsion technology could make it possible to fly, for example, from London to Sydney in just a couple of hours.

More likely in the first instance, they will find applications in the space delivery business - launching small payloads, such as communications satellites, into orbit.

The first ever free flight of a scramjet was conducted by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) in 2001. Its engine was fired from a gun in an enclosed facility on the ground.


A year later, University of Queensland researchers flew their HyShot scramjet on a missile.

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Pliablemoose

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
25,195
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I really hope they post some video of the test (& that it works), the tech behind it is cool as hell, I'm surprised it's being done in a public manner, instead of being done in secret as the stealth fighters & bombers were.
 

SagaLore

Elite Member
Dec 18, 2001
24,037
21
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Originally posted by: yellowfiero

If all goes well, the 1,300kg wedge-shaped research craft will separate from its booster and accelerate away with the power from its scramjet.

This explains all those UFO's. :Q
 

SagaLore

Elite Member
Dec 18, 2001
24,037
21
81
Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I really hope they post some video of the test (& that it works), the tech behind it is cool as hell, I'm surprised it's being done in a public manner, instead of being done in secret as the stealth fighters & bombers were.

Stealth you want to keep secret... but if you develop something like this under the guise of "space exploration", it will double up as a flex of muscle to our enemies. Imagine how fast we could send one of these to another country with a desctructive payload... By making this public, we're telling them "back off".
 

beer

Lifer
Jun 27, 2000
11,169
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This will be tested at 2 PM PST, FYI. They'll release results at 3 PM PST.
 

Actaeon

Diamond Member
Dec 28, 2000
8,657
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Originally posted by: SagaLore
Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I really hope they post some video of the test (& that it works), the tech behind it is cool as hell, I'm surprised it's being done in a public manner, instead of being done in secret as the stealth fighters & bombers were.

Stealth you want to keep secret... but if you develop something like this under the guise of "space exploration", it will double up as a flex of muscle to our enemies. Imagine how fast we could send one of these to another country with a desctructive payload... By making this public, we're telling them "back off".

Wow... imagine that. A WMD that travels at speeds higher than Mach7... I never had thought about that before. We could bomb something across the world in just a few hours.
 

notfred

Lifer
Feb 12, 2001
38,241
4
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Originally posted by: Actaeon
Originally posted by: SagaLore
Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I really hope they post some video of the test (& that it works), the tech behind it is cool as hell, I'm surprised it's being done in a public manner, instead of being done in secret as the stealth fighters & bombers were.

Stealth you want to keep secret... but if you develop something like this under the guise of "space exploration", it will double up as a flex of muscle to our enemies. Imagine how fast we could send one of these to another country with a desctructive payload... By making this public, we're telling them "back off".

Wow... imagine that. A WMD that travels at speeds higher than Mach7... I never had thought about that before. We could bomb something across the world in just a few hours.


We already can. Did you not notice how they were getting the scramjet powered aircraft up to mach 6?
 

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
33,929
1,097
126
The B52 seems to be having some problems, from hearing their radio communications on NASA TV.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,414
8,356
126
Originally posted by: SagaLore
Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I really hope they post some video of the test (& that it works), the tech behind it is cool as hell, I'm surprised it's being done in a public manner, instead of being done in secret as the stealth fighters & bombers were.

Stealth you want to keep secret... but if you develop something like this under the guise of "space exploration", it will double up as a flex of muscle to our enemies. Imagine how fast we could send one of these to another country with a desctructive payload... By making this public, we're telling them "back off".

you must have missed the whole ICBM craze...
 

Pocatello

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
9,754
2
76
Originally posted by: ElFenix
Originally posted by: SagaLore
Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
I really hope they post some video of the test (& that it works), the tech behind it is cool as hell, I'm surprised it's being done in a public manner, instead of being done in secret as the stealth fighters & bombers were.

Stealth you want to keep secret... but if you develop something like this under the guise of "space exploration", it will double up as a flex of muscle to our enemies. Imagine how fast we could send one of these to another country with a desctructive payload... By making this public, we're telling them "back off".

you must have missed the whole ICBM craze...

:)
 

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
33,929
1,097
126
That was sweet!

One of the cool things about having a NASA center near by is NASA TV, it's just a feed like they'd get, complete with all of the communication stuff.
 

Koing

Elite Member <br> Super Moderator<br> Health and F
Oct 11, 2000
17,090
2
0
Originally posted by: Kaervak
Well, they hit just over Mach 7. Damn that's impressive.

Indeed it is!

Very impressive!

Koing