By Mark Prigg | 11:08 GMT, 13 August 2012
US Military to test radical new aircraft that can reach Mach 6
It may look like a vehicle the Thunderbirds would travel in, but in fact this experimental aircraft
could be the future of long haul flights.
It uses a revolutionary 'scramjet' engine that allows it to travel at hypersonic speeds.
Tomorrow (14 August 2012 EDT), it will be dropped from a B52 bomber in its latest test.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00002-72.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00002-72.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
The craft, called the X-51A Waverider, is currently being prepared at Edwards Air
Force Base in the Mojave Desert.
Tomorrow, it will take part in a key test.
Attached to a B-52 bomber's wing, it will be taken from Edwards to about 50,000 feet
over the Pacific Ocean near Point Mugu.
There' it will be dropped and the engines fired. The entire mission will last just 300
seconds, but will be the longest the craft has ever flown for.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00003-57.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00003-57.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Hypersonic flight is seen as the next step for aircraft.
'Attaining sustained hypersonic flight is like going from propeller-driven aircraft to jet
aircraft,' Robert Mercier, deputy for technology in the high speed systems division at
the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio told the New york Times..
'Since the Wright brothers, we have examined how to make aircraft better and faster.
'Hypersonic flight is one of those areas that is a potential frontier for aeronautics.
'I believe we're standing in the door waiting to go into that arena.'
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00004-39.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00004-39.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
The project is being funded by Nasa and the Pentagon, who hope it can be used for
military stealth aircraft and new weapons.
The WaveRider program is estimated to cost $140 million, according to Globalsecurity.org,
a website for military policy research.
It has had a mixed history, with previous tests being aborted after the engine stalled.
The latest test will see the craft freefall for four seconds over the Pacific before its booster
rocket engine ignites and propels the nearly wingless aircraft for 30 seconds to about
Mach 4.5, before being jettisoned.
Then the cruiser's scramjet engine, notable because it has virtually no moving parts, ignites.
The WaveRider is expected to accelerate to about Mach 6 as it climbs to nearly 70,000 feet.
After 300 seconds of flight, the WaveRider is set to break up after splashing into the Pacific,
as planned.
There are no plans to recover the WaveRider.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00005-33.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00005-33.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
US Military to test radical new aircraft that can reach Mach 6
- Scramjet engine can accelerate craft to over 4,500mph within seconds
- Could dramatically slash journey times by travelling at five times the speed of sound
It may look like a vehicle the Thunderbirds would travel in, but in fact this experimental aircraft
could be the future of long haul flights.
It uses a revolutionary 'scramjet' engine that allows it to travel at hypersonic speeds.
Tomorrow (14 August 2012 EDT), it will be dropped from a B52 bomber in its latest test.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00002-72.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00002-72.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
The craft, called the X-51A Waverider, is currently being prepared at Edwards Air
Force Base in the Mojave Desert.
Tomorrow, it will take part in a key test.
Attached to a B-52 bomber's wing, it will be taken from Edwards to about 50,000 feet
over the Pacific Ocean near Point Mugu.
There' it will be dropped and the engines fired. The entire mission will last just 300
seconds, but will be the longest the craft has ever flown for.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00003-57.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00003-57.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Hypersonic flight is seen as the next step for aircraft.
'Attaining sustained hypersonic flight is like going from propeller-driven aircraft to jet
aircraft,' Robert Mercier, deputy for technology in the high speed systems division at
the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio told the New york Times..
'Since the Wright brothers, we have examined how to make aircraft better and faster.
'Hypersonic flight is one of those areas that is a potential frontier for aeronautics.
'I believe we're standing in the door waiting to go into that arena.'
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00004-39.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00004-39.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
The project is being funded by Nasa and the Pentagon, who hope it can be used for
military stealth aircraft and new weapons.
The WaveRider program is estimated to cost $140 million, according to Globalsecurity.org,
a website for military policy research.
It has had a mixed history, with previous tests being aborted after the engine stalled.
The latest test will see the craft freefall for four seconds over the Pacific before its booster
rocket engine ignites and propels the nearly wingless aircraft for 30 seconds to about
Mach 4.5, before being jettisoned.
Then the cruiser's scramjet engine, notable because it has virtually no moving parts, ignites.
The WaveRider is expected to accelerate to about Mach 6 as it climbs to nearly 70,000 feet.
After 300 seconds of flight, the WaveRider is set to break up after splashing into the Pacific,
as planned.
There are no plans to recover the WaveRider.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00005-33.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00005-33.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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