USA number one! I hope the French are going nuts for this.
Posted on 06/21/2005 9:37:27 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Near 7,000 mph run new speed mark for jet-powered craft
By Jim Skeen, Staff Writer
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE -- NASA's unmanned X-43A aircraft will get a new listing in Guinness World Records for its test flight that hit nearly 7,000 mph, a world speed record for a jet-powered aircraft. The 2006 records book due out in September will recognize the 12-foot-long, computer-guided craft for the Nov. 16 flight in which it hit Mach 9.6 over the Pacific Ocean.
Carried to 109,000 feet by a Pegasus rocket launched from beneath a B-52 mother ship, the X-43A was powered by an experimental scramjet engine, which draws oxygen for combustion from the atmosphere rather than carrying it like a rocket ship.
"These demonstrations proved the viability of scramjet engine technology in a 'real world' flight environment and were the result of over 40 years of high-speed propulsion research within NASA," said Paul Reukaut, deputy project manager for X-43A flight research and testing.
The flight was the culmination of a seven-year, approximately $230 million ground and flight test program aimed at exploring alternatives to rocket power for space access vehicles.
The program was conducted by NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate with the NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., with NASA Dryden Flight Research Center handling the flight research and testing.
The Nov. 16 flight was the last. Three X-43 craft were made, each intended to make a single flight that ended in the ocean.
The first test ended prematurely after the Pegasus booster rocket went out of control. The second, in March 2004, reached close to 5,000 mph, earning Guinness World Records honors, which is now surpassed by the November flight.
The fastest manned jet was the SR-71, which could top Mach 3.2, or about 2,200 mph. The highest speed attained by a rocket-powered plane, NASA's X-15, was Mach 6.7.
Ping!
ping!
Yowsah!!!!
Now that's cooking!!!
I want one.
Ahhh, so that's the "official" record, but not close to being the fastest jet.
Unfortunately the program has been canceled and there is no subsequent follow-on at this time.
Can it carry nuclear warheads ?
Dang, that's movin' right along there...
This technology intrigues me.
What would be the fastest jet?
I have that last flight on video.
Are you refering to public video or the inside stuff?
The inside stuff would be very cool to see.
Sign me up! It took over 10 hours to go from San Fran to Tokyo two weeks ago.
I wonder if you are still alive when you reach your destination, riding this plane.:-)
"... the X-15 had a man in it... with massive cojones no doubt."
That would depend on the G-load. :o)
Ping
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