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NASA has taken a huge leap forward in its quest to create an aircraft that can travel faster than the speed of sound without causing the ear-splitting sonic boom. The space agency announced today (April 2) that it has awarded the aerospace company Lockheed Martin a $247.5 million contract to design and build a new X-plane, known as the Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD), which may soar silently over the U.S. by 2022. Today's announcement comes less than two weeks after President Donald Trump signed a federal budget for FY2019 that fully funds the LBFD. In his budget proposal, Trump noted...

The U.S. Air Force says the second planned mission of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) will “expand the operating envelope” of the autonomous space vehicle, potentially increasing the orbital cross-range and capability of landing in stronger crosswinds. Richard McKinney, Air Force undersecretary for space programs, says the second test X-37B—OTV-2—is being prepared in Boeing’s California space facilities for transfer “soon” to Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. From there it will be launched on an Atlas V in the March-April 2011 time period. Lt. Col. Troy Giese, X-37B program manager from the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (Afrco), which manages the...

The U.S. Air Force is evaluating the performance and condition of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-1), the reusable space plane that lifted off in April and remains the subject of much international speculation. The unmanned spacecraft landed at 1:16 a.m. Pacific Time on 3 December at Vandenberg AFB, in California after 224 days and nine hours in space. Though the service is not discussing specifics about OTV-1's classified payload, air force insists the focus of the maiden flight was the aircraft, not the payload or even potential payloads. "Our ability to launch it and our ability to operate it...

Following the longest flight yet by an air-breathing scramjet engine, the X-51A Waverider team is waiting to see whether the largely successful first launch of the hypersonic demonstrator will unlock funding for further development of the ­technology. The X-51A was launched over the Pacific on May 26, achieving scramjet ignition and acceleration, but the engine ran for only 200 sec. rather than the 300 sec. planned, and the vehicle reached around Mach 5 instead of accelerating beyond Mach 6. When it began to slow down and telemetry was lost, the flight was terminated and the vehicle destroyed, says Charles Brink,...

An aircraft resembling a large bodyboard detached from a flying B-52 bomber and then shot across the Pacific on Wednesday at more than 3,500 mph, shattering aviation records and reigniting decades-long efforts to develop a vehicle that could travel faster than a speeding bullet. The unmanned X-51 WaveRider, powered by an air-breathing hypersonic engine that has virtually no moving parts, was launched midair off the coast near Point Mugu. It sped westward for 200 seconds before plunging into the ocean as planned. Previous attempts at hypersonic flights lasted no more than 10 seconds. "Everything went very well for a first...

In the cockpit of the sleek, black aircraft slung underneath the wing of the B-52 bomber, my interphone crackles. "Ah, Robert, it’s a lovely morning," says Jack Allavie, the commander of the B-52 launch aircraft. "Yes it is, Jack," I respond while running through the preflight checklist for our July 17, 1962 mission. The North American Aircraft X-15 was designed to investigate flight at hypersonic (Mach 5-plus) speeds and extremely high altitudes, and the effects of aerodynamic heating on aircraft surfaces. It was the first aircraft to fly Mach 4, Mach 5, and Mach 6—and I had the good fortune...

When Robert White shot through the sky in a rocket-powered X-15 airplane nearly 50 years ago, he earned a place in the development of America's space program that those in the field still talk about. First to break Mach 4 — four times the speed of sound. First to break Mach 5. First to break Mach 6 —more than 4,000 miles per hour. All in a few short months in 1961. Then in 1962 the young test pilot with Hollywood good looks nosed his airplane 59 miles above the earth to be the first to take a winged craft into...

X-48B Blended Wing Body Research Aircraft Makes First Flight The collaborative efforts of the Boeing Co. of Chicago, Ill., NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program, and the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio culminated on the first flight of the X-48B Blended Wing Body research aircraft on July 20, 2007. The experienced flight research team kept a watchful eye as the 21-foot wingspan, 500-pound, remotely piloted test vehicle took off for the first time at 8:42 a.m. PDT and climbed to an altitude of 7,500 feet before landing 31 minutes later. "Friday's flight marked yet another aviation...

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - An experimental jet that resembles a flying wing successfully flew for the first time in a program that could lead to more fuel-efficient, quieter and higher-capacity aircraft, NASA said Thursday. The remotely controlled, 500-pound, three-engine jet with a 21-foot wingspan took off July 20, climbed to an altitude of 7,500 feet and landed about a half-hour later, NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center said. The X-48B Blended Wing Body aircraft was controlled by a pilot at a ground station. NASA and Boeing said data from the flight are already being compared with data from...

'X' Marks the Spot By Glenn Harlan Reynolds As I write this, contestants are preparing to launch (quite literally) their efforts to win the Ansari X-Prize. According to a report in the Houston Chronicle, Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne (which I think could fairly be called the favorite in this competition) is scheduled to make its first launch of the two required the day this column appears, with the second launch (required by the contest to demonstrate fast turnaround capabilities) planned for next week. That might slip, rocket launches being prone to such things. (The Canadian DaVinci team has just announced a...

The future of supersonic flight is taking shape in the very skies where the sonic boom first signaled the conquest of the sound barrier. This time, however, researchers hope to make a much quieter mark on history. The Shaped Sonic Boom Experiment uses a specially modified F-5E Tiger fighter jet to show that aircraft may be shaped so as to lessen the force of the shock wave created as it goes supersonic, thus producing a quieter sonic boom. "It is the forerunner of the future of supersonic flight," said Northrop Grumman chief test pilot Roy Martin, who piloted the modified...