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SCIENCE: NASA Jet Will Try to Go 7,000 MPH

C

conjur

No Lifer
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041115/D86CAQ980.html
LOS ANGELES (AP) - In March, NASA launched an experimental jet that reached a record-setting speed of about 5,000 mph. Now researchers want to leave that milestone in the dust.

NASA's third and last X-43A "scramjet" was set to streak over the Pacific Ocean on Monday at 7,000 mph for 10 or 11 seconds - or 10 times the speed of sound.

The first X-43A flight failed in June 2001 when the booster rocket used to accelerate it to flight speed veered off course and had to be destroyed. The second flight in March was a success, reaching Mach 6.83 - nearly 5,000 mph - and setting a new world speed record for a plane powered by an air-breathing engine.

The last hypersonic X-43A will try, weather permitting, to break that record by making its advanced supersonic combustion ramjet perform at a level that can't even be tested on the ground, project officials said Wednesday from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

"What we're trying to do is really get to the reality of flight - find out what does work, what doesn't work. So there is risk in this program," said Vince Rausch, Hyper-X program manager at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia.

"We fully anticipate that we've reduced that risk to acceptable levels but you never are sure, especially in doing something for the first time, going Mach 10, until we actually fly."

Just 12 feet long and 5 feet wide, the unmanned X-43A is mounted on the nose of a Pegasus rocket that will be carried aloft to 40,000 feet by NASA's B-52 research aircraft and released. The Pegasus rocket will ignite and carry the X-43A to an altitude of 110,000 feet and a speed of about Mach 10, then release it for its brief powered flight.

The X-43A will then become a glider and perform maneuvers until it splashes down into the ocean.

That will be the end of the X-43A project, which has cost more than $230 million and has no immediate follow-on program.

"I have mixed emotions about this mission," said Joel Sitz, project manager for X-43A flight research at Dryden. "I'm very excited about next week. I'm also a little bit sad about seeing the end of the program. It's like watching your son go off to college."

Scramjet technology may be used in developing hypersonic missiles and airplanes or reusable space launch vehicles, with a potential for offering speeds of at least Mach 15. Unlike rockets, scramjets wouldn't have to carry heavy oxidizer necessary to allow fuel to burn because they can scoop oxygen out of the atmosphere.
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damn, thats like 2 miles a second. I wouldn't want to be the pilot of that, give me a cessna 150 and I'd be happy.

Edit: I guess it's unmanned
 
Originally posted by: KK
damn, thats like 2 miles a second. I wouldn't want to be the pilot of that, give me a cessna 150 and I'd be happy.

Edit: I guess it's unmanned
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Yeah...unmanned, at first. That would be a WILD ride, though, eh? 😀
 
Originally posted by: b0mbrman
or 10 times the speed of sound.
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Wow. That is truly amazing

Let's see the neocons try to spin this one
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If it crashes it will be Bush's fault. If it is a success Gore will claim he invented it. Kerry will claim he voted for it, and then after it fails, voted against it. Ted Kennedy will pour himself another drink.
 
Originally posted by: b0mbrman
or 10 times the speed of sound.
Click to expand...
Wow. That is truly amazing

Let's see the neocons try to spin this one
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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041116/D86D8UC81.html

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A tiny unmanned NASA "scramjet" soared over the Pacific Ocean Tuesday to demonstrate a radical new engine technology by attempting to fly at a record speed of about 7,000 mph, almost 10 times the speed of sound.

The 12-foot-long X-43A supersonic combustion ramjet was to fly under its own power at Mach 10 for about 10 seconds after separating from a booster rocket at 110,000 feet, then glide to a splash landing.

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 40,000 feet 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 $230 million-plus 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 United States, 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 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 - nearly 5,000 mph - 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.
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& I'm giving myself a :cookie: for it 😉
 
Originally posted by: Pete84
'Bout time for the Superfortess to retire. Older than most of the planet's population, lol
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I dont think the US military is planning to retire them for a while yet. As in several decades.
 
Originally posted by: Tarpon6

If it crashes it will be Bush's fault. If it is a success Gore will claim he invented it. Kerry will claim he voted for it, and then after it fails, voted against it. Ted Kennedy will pour himself another drink.
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:thumbsup::thumbsup::beer:
 
Didn't see anyone posting it yet, but the flight was succesfull. The plane flew at 9,7 times the speed of sound. :Q
 
Update - Record Set

From the article:

<CLIP>

The scramjet burned fuel for about 10 seconds off the southern California coast, US, to reach a speed of about Mach 9.6
(11,500 km per hour). It then glided for 10 minutes before diving into the Pacific Ocean.

It spent a total of about 20 seconds flying with its engine uncovered and gulping in air.
That may seem like a very short flight to most people, but the X-43A team members were elated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pegasus Booster burned for approximately 10 seconds before the Scramjet was started.
The Scramjet burned fuel for another 10 seconds, before begining it's recovery glide.

At the point of release the Mothership was traveling at a velocity of approximately 600 - 650 MPH.

Look at the math:

Mach 9.6 (11,500 km/hr = 7,188 MPH) was attained after 20 seconds acceleration.

7,188 - 650 = 6,538 MPH in 20 seconds is an acceleration constant of 326.875 MPH per second.

*NOTE: A Top Fuel Dragster will accelerate from 0 to 326 MPH in 4.5 seconds.

This vehicle can accelerate at a rate more than 4 times the acceleration of the Dragster.

That's impressive !

Any human passenger would be subjected to 'G-Lock' under those conditions,
so the use for transportation of people looks to be severly limited at this time.
 
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