NASA jet breaks speed record

[furie]

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2004/TECH/space/03/28/hypersonic.jet.flight/story.test.flight.jpg

Fifty-seven years after test pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, NASA on Saturday launched the unpiloted research jet, in a development some observers say could change the future of space travel. (http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/28/hypersonic.jet.flight/index.html)




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[A.J.]

Pffft. Invent warp drive and I'll be impressed.

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A Skidmark production.

Red Sox Nation

[NewYorkDragons80]

We are nearing the day when space travel can take place without rockets. Spacecraft will take off and land like airplanes and it's coming sooner than you think.

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[Doctor Manhattan]

That "unpiloted research jet" is just a missle.

There's no one in it and it didn't land, it crashed.

How fast to missles go? Oh this one had larger wings? WOW!

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[Mike Teacher]

We are nearing the day when space travel can take place without rockets. Spacecraft will take off and land like airplanes and it's coming sooner than you think.


Unfortunately, this is exactly and precisely what they said when Chuck took Glamour Glennis through Mach 1. Then when Crossfield went Mach 2.

This drone that flew? 5,000 mph? Not bad.

Ever hear of the X-15? It's right there on the second floor of Air and Space; the black rocket-looking plane. Looking down at Glennis and The Flyer.

Anyway they also said the above in the 1960s when they were bolting guys inside these things, dropping them like bombs from B-52s, and had *real, human pilots* at the controls. They went Hypersonic [Mach 5+] with ease; and maxed out around Mach 6.7; and lemme tell you, they are more rocket then anything else.

To call these planes? Well, the X-15 glided like a brick. Go see it at Air and Space; there hardly any wings on the damn thing; so it's coming in falling like a rock and you only have one chance to land it. Oh, If you didn't know, these planes X-1 on up, used up all their fuel for the speed runs. They all landed dead-stick, meaning No power, No second chance. The ground was coming up to meet you fast, and you WERE going to meet with it, either in a controlled landing, or...

Hell Crossfield broke one right in two when he landed hard. He also was in one in a 'static' test. That's where they literally Bolt the plane down so it won't move, and fire up the engine. I have his on video:

You see the X-15, and you hear "Engine Start" and you see a small puff, and then nothing. You hear the controller or someone call out "Ok, Engine Reset" and this is followed by the entire screen turning instantly red as the X-15 explodes like the bomb it was.

Amazingly, the explosion was so great it blew Crossfield and the front of the plane away from the main part; and he friggin walked away.

Scott Crossfield? Who?

Exactly the point of The Right Stuff.

Hey one of the X-15 pilots later joined up with NASA; name Neil Armstrong.

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[Neogoon]

That "unpiloted research jet" is just a missle.

There's no one in it and it didn't land, it crashed.

How fast to missles go? Oh this one had larger wings?

WOW!

The point of the test was to try out a working scramjet. You want to ride a missile to Tokyo, go ahead -- I'll wait until they make a hypersonic passenger scramjet.

But that's okay, reading is hard and stupidity is cool too.

Ceci n'est pas une signature.

[NewYorkDragons80]

When I visited Wright Patterson AFB in November, Air Force analysts told my group that space travel sans rockets was rapidly nearing. Granted, they have been saying that for a while, but he showed the technological advancements made in recent years which would support that.

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[Mike Teacher]

The point of the test was to try out a working scramjet.


True that, and that's where it was indeed an amazing success. My post above does indeed sound cold; that technology was relatively easy, just spew stuff out the back; a rocket.

The scramjet, if memory serves, works directly by power of the air intake, which is only possible at high altitude and with enough 'go' to get enough speed so the air is being forced in such that the scramjet effect occurs.

Wow my explanation of that is weak. Someone else, please.

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[Mike Teacher]

http://members.aol.com/miketeachr/sonic

Cool Photo; the shock wave captured at the instant of passing Mach 1. That makes a Big Badda BOOM.

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[Bill From Yorktown]

We are nearing the day when space travel can take place without rockets. Spacecraft will take off and land like airplanes and it's coming sooner than you think.

<marquee>
"To insist on strength is not war-mongering. It is peace-mongering." -Senator Barry M. Goldwater "If gold should rust, what will iron do?" -Geoffrey Chaucer "Worship him, I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings.-Romans 12:1</marquee>
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by rocket, you mean the traditional "up and down" variety - it's impossible to travel in space without some form of rocket (unless you count solar sail).

Sorry, had to comment.

Hey Mike, do I remember this correctly, that the Apollo ships returning from the moon come in at mach 13? Or was it Mach 26?

I forget. Damn that's fast.

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[NewYorkDragons80]

by rocket, you mean the traditional "up and down" variety
Right, as immense rocket boosters and launch pads.

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"To insist on strength is not war-mongering. It is peace-mongering." -Senator Barry M. Goldwater "If gold should rust, what will iron do?" -Geoffrey Chaucer "Worship him, I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings.-Romans 12:1</marquee>
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[ChickenHawk]

Right, as immense rocket boosters and launch pads.

Hey, I remember that guy!

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[Neogoon]

The scramjet, if memory serves, works directly by power of the air intake, which is only possible at high altitude and with enough 'go' to get enough speed so the air is being forced in such that the scramjet effect occurs.

Wow my explanation of that is weak. Someone else, please.
Basically right. A regular jet engine uses a turbine to compress the air used for combustion. A ramjet compresses the air without a turbine (so no moving parts), using the speed of the incoming air and the shape of the inlet. A scramjet is a ramjet that burns the incoming air at supersonic speeds (supersonic combustion ramjet -- scramjet). The whole point of the exercise is that you get rocket-style performance without having to carry oxidizer.

Ah, who am I kidding, I got most of that from here. (http://www.aviation-history.com/engines/ramjet.htm) It has pictures. Where's my Maxim?

[ChickenHawk]

Even though it says he's been a member for a year, Neogoon is my favorite new poster.

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This message was edited by ChickenHawk on 3-31-04 @ 1:19 PM

[Furtherman]

Future travel: How will we get around? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3580337.stm)

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...with thanks to JustJon