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NASA?s hypersonic program may have a chance of taking off again, despite a gloomy budget picture. HAMPTON -- A high-speed aeronautics technology called hypersonics, once thought dead at NASA Langley Research Center after two record-breaking flights in recent years, may face a brighter future than expected.

A revolutionary jet engine flew faster than seven times the speed of sound in a high altitude test over the Pacific on Saturday, marking what NASA (news - web sites) scientists hailed as a milestone in developing the "Holy Grail" of space travel. "It's been an outstanding, record-breaking day," lead propulsion engineer Lawrence Huebner told a post-flight briefing. NASA's 12-foot-long X-43A research vehicle -- resembling a winged surfboard -- hit slightly over Mach 7, about 5,000 mph, during 11 seconds of powered flight before gliding at hypersonic speeds for several minutes and finally plunging into the ocean. The test, conducted...

EDWARDS AFB - An experimental aircraft from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center made aviation history Saturday when the unmanned X-43A hypersonic vehicle became the first non-rocket, air-breathing aircraft to fly more than seven times the speed of sound. "Today was a grand slam at the bottom of the 12th," X-43A project manager Joel Sitz said. The successful flight was met with cheers in the Dryden control room and from those gathered to witness the historic event. Nearly three years ago, the first attempted flight of the X-43A ended in failure when the rocket booster went out of control. "I think...

  Edwards Air Force Base, California March 28, 2004 The experimental X-43A attached under the right wing of a modified NASA B-52 bomber moments before launch. Picture: AFP An experimental X-43 pilotless plane today broke the world speed record for an atmospheric engine, briefly flying at 7,700kph - seven times the speed of sound - over America, NASA said. The hypersonic aircraft, a cross between a jet and a rocket, was dropped from the wing of a modified B-52 bomber, boosted by an auxiliary rocket to an altitude of nearly 30,000 metres and flew on its own for about...

The US space agency will attempt to fly its experimental hypersonic research aircraft, the X-43A, this Saturday. The unpiloted 3.7m-long vehicle uses a scramjet to reach a design speed in excess of Mach 7, more than 8,000 km/h (5,000 mph). Scramjets burn hydrogen but take their oxygen from the air which is forced into the engine at very high speed. It is hoped this technology could one day dramatically reduce the length of long-haul passenger flights and make it much cheaper to launch space payloads. Nasa will just want its latest experiment to complete its goals without incident. The first...

<p>The space agency's dogged pursuit of extreme speed, officials hope, will ultimately make space flight easier to accomplish.</p> <p>NASA will roll out the X-43A, capable of reaching speeds more than Mach 7, in a test flight over the Pacific Ocean. The Hyper-X, as it is called, could also give rise to commercial planes that zip passengers between London and New York in less than two hours.</p>