Using oxygen from the air itself, a NASA experimental jet propelled itself past Mach 7 in the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean this weekend. The small automated X-43A Hyper-X [ http://www.dfrc.nas…] craft was dropped from a huge converted B-52 [ http://www.af.mil/f…] bomber and then accelerated by a standard Pegasus rocket [ http://spaceplace.j…]. At Mach 7, seven times the speed of sound [ http://www.grc.nasa…], the X-43A separated and the novel scramjet [ http://www.aviation…] kicked in. Atmospheric oxygen [ http://pearl1.lanl.…] was then scooped up, combined with onboard hydrogen [ http://pearl1.lanl.…], and combusted in flight to propel the X-43A [ http://www.dfrc.nas…] to record air speeds during maneuvers [ http://www.nasa.gov…] over the next 10 seconds. Engines of ramjet [ http://www.grc.nasa…] design have been suggested as a satellite launch method without heavy fuel tanks and even romanticized for interstellar space travel [ http://www.bbc.co.u…]. The previously acknowledged air-speed record [ http://www.aerospac…] for jet-powered flight was Mach 3.3 for the decommissioned SR-71 [ http://www.sr-71.or…]. Re-entering space rockets can start as high as Mach 36 before the atmosphere decelerates them. The X-43A [ http://www.nasa.gov…], depicted in the artist's illustration above [ http://www.dfrc.nas…], might well propel itself past Mach 10 in future tests.
Explanation
Using oxygen from the air itself, a NASA experimental jet propelled itself past Mach 7 in the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean this weekend. The small automated X-43A Hyper-X [ http://www.dfrc.nas…] craft was dropped from a huge converted B-52 [ http://www.af.mil/f…] bomber and then accelerated by a standard Pegasus rocket [ http://spaceplace.j…]. At Mach 7, seven times the speed of sound [ http://www.grc.nasa…], the X-43A separated and the novel scramjet [ http://www.aviation…] kicked in. Atmospheric oxygen [ http://pearl1.lanl.…] was then scooped up, combined with onboard hydrogen [ http://pearl1.lanl.…], and combusted in flight to propel the X-43A [ http://www.dfrc.nas…] to record air speeds during maneuvers [ http://www.nasa.gov…] over the next 10 seconds. Engines of ramjet [ http://www.grc.nasa…] design have been suggested as a satellite launch method without heavy fuel tanks and even romanticized for interstellar space travel [ http://www.bbc.co.u…]. The previously acknowledged air-speed record [ http://www.aerospac…] for jet-powered flight was Mach 3.3 for the decommissioned SR-71 [ http://www.sr-71.or…]. Re-entering space rockets can start as high as Mach 36 before the atmosphere decelerates them. The X-43A [ http://www.nasa.gov…], depicted in the artist's illustration above [ http://www.dfrc.nas…], might well propel itself past Mach 10 in future tests.
