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Australian Scramjet Launched

Posted by michael on from the lawn-dart dept.

CaptainAlbert writes: "The University of Queensland, Australia is reporting the (possible) success of their "HyShot" scramjet test. The BBC have got this covered too. Apparently, they're now poring over the data loggers, trying to figure out if it actually flew under its own power." We had a story about these guys a while back.

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  1. Scramjet facts by alienmole · · Score: 5, Informative
    These articles were light on facts, weren't they? Are they worried people are going to try repeating this at home, with parts scrounged from auto stores??

    A bit of Googling revealed the following:

    From The Ramjet/Scramjet Engine:

    • a scramjet is a kind of ramjet
    • "A ramjet has no moving parts and achieves compression of intake air by the forward speed of the air vehicle. Air entering the intake of a supersonic aircraft is slowed by aerodynamic diffusion created by the inlet and diffuser to velocities comparable to those in a turbojet augmentor. The expansion of hot gases after fuel injection and combustion accelerates the exhaust air to a velocity higher than that at the inlet and creates positive push."
    • "Scramjet is an acronym for Supersonic Combustion Ramjet. The scramjet differs from the ramjet in that combustion takes place at supersonic air velocities through the engine. It is mechanically simple, but vastly more complex aerodynamically than a jet engine. Hydrogen is normally the fuel used."
    Scramjet research seems to be a hot topic in the aerospace world - I saw references to projects underway in the UK, in the US Defense Department, at NASA, and of course Australia, all of which have claimed some or other big advances in the past year or so.

    Finally, here's Scientific American article that gives a bit more technical detail.