NASA Tries To Break Speed Record With Scramjet Flight

ROCKET SCIENCE

NASA's X-43A Scramjet Breaks Speed Record

Pegasus booster rocket ignites to send the X-43A on its record setting Mach 10 flight. Photo: NASA.

Edwards AFB CA (AFP) Nov 16, 2004
A US hypersonic experimental scramjet, the X-43A, clocked up a test flight Tuesday at a world record speed 10 times faster than sound, NASA said Tuesday.

The pilotless scramjet screeched across the Pacific Ocean with NASA scientists nervously monitoring its second test flight. It was the second record to be claimed in eight months.

"It's a great day," said NASA spokeswoman Leslie Williams.

"Once again we have made aviation history," added Vincent Rausch, the X-43A program manager, who spoke after it was announced that scramjet reached Mach 10, or almost 3.2 kilometers (two miles) per second.

The small jet was launched from a B-52B aircraft over the Pacific. The scramjet is only 3.65 meters (12 feet) long, with a wingspan of 1.5 meters (five feet).

It beat a record set in March by another X-43A, which powered up its scramjet engine and performed "flawlessly" for 11 seconds, attaining speeds of seven times the speed of sound, or Mach 7.

The jet uses a new type of engine that burns fuel in a stream of air compressed by the forward speed of the aircraft.

NASA said scramjets will ultimately provide safer and more affordable high-speed flight in vehicles more like airplanes than rockets. Unlike rockets, scramjets can be throttled back and flown like an airplane.

NASA called it a "high-risk, high-payoff research program."

The US Air Force is seeking to develop an airplane capable of reaching any point on the globe in less than two hours while transporting six tonnes of bombs or cruise missiles.

The Pentagon and the Australian Defense Ministry plan to test another scramjet-powered vehicle at Mach 10 in Australia in 2005 in a jointly financed project. They hope to use the technology to put satellites in orbit.

All rights reserved. � 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

ROCKET SCIENCE

X-43A Mach 10 Mission Scrubbed For Today

Edwards AFB CA (SPX) Nov 16, 2004
NASA's third X-43A hypersonic research mission has been scrubbed for today due to technical glitches with X-43A instrumentation. When the issues were addressed, not enough time remained in the launch window.

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