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.
This technology seems related to Boussard Scoop theories that use a similar type of "ram scoop" in open space to collect stray hydrogen for use as fuel in continuous flight. I love NASA/JPL propulsion research
I'm heading over to my local airport (Teteboro) were they have a tech school to work on airplanes. I'm going to sit in on a whole class day to see what it’s all about. If I like it enough then that’s were I'm going after high school. I'm going tomorrow and I cannot wait. I've been told this is one of the best schools besides Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona. It is also heavily recruited by the air force... but I have no plans on going there.
Hey Sean, you seem to be into planes as well. Do you have anything to add say? Your older then me and definitely been around the block a few times so you know what your doing. Do you have any pointers?
My recommendation for your direction depends on where you see yourself being involved in that industry (ex: engineering/design, testing/verifications, maintenance, piloting/crewing, communications, etc).
In terms of long-term destination, if you want to get into the engineering/design side of things, look at any of the major aerospace manufacturers such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, NASA, JPL, etc. Of course your opportunities for working on high tech, ultra-bleeding edge stull are at places like LHM, JPL, NASA, moreso than commercial businesses like Boeing. Also look for up & coming companies like Virgin Galactic who are venturing into space tourism, etc.
For the rest of those lines of work, just about any aerospace company can get you there. Of course the military is a very good direction if you want to be able to work on some of the top-end stuff. But the military isn't for everyone, indeed.
Hmm… well I'm going to have to study my ass off and learn a lot. (no sht)
I just so happened to go on a day where they were studying for exams tomorrow. So I just sat in on classroom study. I was really expecting to actually see some hands on stuff because I learn better that way and I am a visual learner. Plus it’s more fun
I don’t know if I want to go. The area where the school is… er... not so great. I'd say maybe 90 percent of the kids in the school are Puerto Ricans. I’m not trying to be racist but seeing them sleeping on the desks and just randomly leaving the classroom when the guy is talking about rivets kinda makes me wonder about who is actually fixing these planes. Plus it seems like it was video day. We watched old 70’s videos… well not really videos. All of them were these cheap slide presentations where the narrator speaking was going too fast for the slide to change. So the guy would be talking about a square but a piece of sheet metal will be on the screen. Crap like that… my expectations were high for this school…. Arg.
Here's another article with much duplicate, but some additional information:
By JOHN ANTCZAK
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A tiny unmanned NASA "scramjet" soared above the Pacific Ocean Tuesday at nearly 10 times the speed of sound, or almost 7,000 mph, in a successful demonstration of a radical new engine technology.
The 12-foot-long X-43A supersonic combustion ramjet reached about Mach 9.7, said Leslie Williams, a spokeswoman at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base.
The exotic aircraft was designed to fly under its own power for about 10 seconds after separating from a booster rocket at 110,000 feet, then glide to a splash landing.
Details of the craft's exact performance were to be announced later from Dryden, but mission officials were jubilant immediately after the brief flight.
"Once again we made aviation history. We did that in March when we went seven times the speed of sound and now we've done it right around 10 times the speed of sound," said Vince Rausch, Hyper-X program manager from NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia.
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.
chodder said this in post #7 : I'm so lost right now....
By the way - I have a buddy who is an aircraft mechanic. I might be able to have him respond to questions or make recommendations if you're interested..
In commercial terms, passenger jets could conceivably means travel from coast to coast in 20 minutes.
Do you know what this means? A LOT!! But I'm not sure the human body is ready to endure Mach 7 speeds.
quote:
Sean Kelly said this in post #11 : By the way - I have a buddy who is an aircraft mechanic. I might be able to have him respond to questions or make recommendations if you're interested..
Cool. I'm mainly interested in the schooling he had. Did he go for an associates or bachelors? Where did he go? Etc. Some recommendations would be good also. I’m not sure I want to go into the government or private jets. Yeah, so anything would be great.
Earth's escape velocity is roughly 25,000mph. If Apollo astronauts could handle that, I'd wager regular, everyday Joes could be conditioned to stand up to 7,000mph.
Plus, it might be possible to transport a limited number of human occupants such as a pilot and copilot using technologies similar to what we presented in the film The Abyss where the body is suspended in water and even the lungs are filled with oxygen bearing fluid. This would greatly enhance the body's exterior bracing for the G-Forces involved.
Embry is great but the money is the killer. Also they just got rid of Associates (wtf?) I called them up with a few questions like if you go for an associates in power plant or w/e do you still need SAT's to get into the school and they said that they stopped doing associates and now they only offer bachelors and all this crap. Hmph!! I rather just go and learn about planes and not have to take English or Spanish. Know what I mean? But if I have too I will. But I first have to find a school... which is tough. I do good in school with close to a 3.5 grade point average. I bombed my SAT's badly. It's too pitiful to even talk about
11-15-2004 06:59 PM
(no sht)
