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Scramjet Test Successful

Posted by michael on from the zero-to-six-thousand-in-one-second dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes: "The Sacramento Bee is running this story about the first powered device to achieve "hypersonic" speeds in the Earth's atmosphere. In a series of DARPA-sponsored tests, at Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee, a scramjet engine, encased in a titanium projectile, was fired from a 130-foot cannon, at an initial velocity of Mach 7.1. The scramjet's engines then ignited, and the object moved another 260 feet, in just 30 milliseconds, before it came to rest in a series of steel plates designed to halt the flight. Peak acceleration: about 10,000 G's. Elapsed time, including cigarettes & pillowtalk: less than a second. PS: According to this nifty page at NASA, Mach 7.1 is about 5406 MPH, whereas 260 ft, per 0.03 seconds, is about 5909 MPH."

1 of 300 comments (clear)

  1. Re:intended use by gizmo_mathboy · · Score: 4, Informative

    While the thought of having a hypersonic commercial vehicle is enticing, I think the intended use of scramjets are more for the military than anything. Remember this is a DARPA project. There isn't many DARPA projects that made it into the commercial realm. Well, I can think of at least one. ;-)

    Heck, just a hypersonic projectile and/or missile would really change the landscape for Ballistic Missle Defense. Having a velocity several times faster than your target is a major advantage.

    It wasn't mentioned in the article but the projectile used gaseous ethylene at 1000 psi, not hydgrogen, as its fuel. I love my Aviation Week subscription. :-)

    As mentioned in another posting hydrogen embrittlement would be a concern in a larger vehicle, this is a 20% scale model. The biggest barrier is heating. Atmospheric heating is a big deal at Mach 7+.

    A more detailed article can be found here at Aviation Weeks online site.