Posted on 05/22/2009 9:30:20 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian and US scientists have successfully tested hypersonic aircraft technology which could revolutionise international flight, officials said.
The trial was the first of up to 10 tests to be conducted at the Woomera desert range as part of a joint US-Australian military research operation, said Defence Science Minister Warren Snowdon.
The programme, called Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE), is investigating hypersonics technology and its potential for next generation aeronautics.
"Hypersonics is the study of flight exceeding approximately five times the speed of sound, and this trial has successfully tested the flight and mission control systems that will be used in future experiments," Snowdon said.
The test vehicle was carried into space aboard a rocket launched from Woomera and then dived back into the atmosphere to test the hypersonic flight technology.
Nitrogen gas valves were used as thrusters to manoeuvre the craft in space and correctly position it for reentry into the atmosphere, offering scientists a "wealth of new data," Snowdon said.
"This trial has ... demonstrated that hypersonic flight could become a reality in the not too distant future, offering immense economic and strategic benefits for Australia," he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
An Australian Department of Defence handout of the launch of a test vehicle as part of a hypersonics trial in Woomera, South Australia. Australian and US scientists have successfully tested hypersonic aircraft technology which could revolutionise international flight, officials said (AFP/File/Brian Crowley)
“offering immense economic and strategic benefits for Australia,” he added.”
Heck yeah! A 45 min flight from LA to Australia.
The only problem being you might have to pluck you teeth out of the seat behind you.
So, let’s get this straight. Supersonic passenger flight, via the Concorde, was a failure because of the propaganda campaign of the news media, but some how people are going to embrace even faster technology?
Note that they have to do this testing in Australia now because of all the enviro-wackos in the US.
While I don’t deny that might have something to do with it, there’s also the fact that a significant amount of the development of this technology is the product of Australian research at Australian universities.
Cheers!
The public will never see this. There is no way.
Don’t worry, they’ll be the first to go when the realize that their small new green government cars don’t offer protection from zombies.
bump for later read
Once they get a propulsion system nailed down then there is the heat problem. The heat buildup on an airframe in the hypersonic regime is tremendous even for relatively short periods of time (2 minutes or so).
They’ll need some new-tech highly durable high performance ceramics for large parts of the airframe IMO.
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