Slashdot Mirror
HyShot Scramjet Test Declared a Success
An anonymous reader writes: "ABC news is reporting
that analysis of the flight data from the recent
HyShot scramjet test (covered by Slashdot
previously) suggests that the test was successful and that the engine achieved combustion in flight after reaching Mach 7.6. The University of Queensland is also reporting the news."
Seriously, read the damn article! It says that it cuts the travel time from London to Sydney from 20 hours to 2! Obviously you are not getting there the moment you take off. The Earth is a huge huge place and even at Mach 7.6, it will take you a while to get somewhere.
--Won't that be grand? Computers and the programs will start thinking and the people will stop. - Dr. Walter Gibbs
The 2nd article points out that the engine is for use with space payloads, you dont have to carry your oxidizer while in the atmosphere, reducing vehicle weight and increasing payload.
Now, getting to Mach 7.6 to light one of these off may take a railgun, something that rules out living payloads, but good for launching cheap infrastructure into LEO.
Starman97@Gmail.com (bring it on spammers)
His statement is entirely true; as altitude increases, the air does indeed grow thinner, and the speed of sound indeed decreases. And the sped of sound is definitely linked to density, which is why it travels so much faster in water than in air (even at the same temperature).
Moderation: Put your hand inside the puppet head!
Too bad you were bored. Going faster for less money is usually considered a good thing. This is a proof of concept of a technology that promises to dramatically lower the cost of getting payloads to orbit. The fact that it plowed into the ground is irrelevant: the point was to get the scramjet to ignite. We know how to land aircraft. (BTW, the Concorde is expensive because it uses 40-year old technology. France and the UK subsidized development for reasons other than creating cost-effective travel. If someone would market a commercial aircraft that could do New York-London at 1,500 mph and cost no more to operate per passenger than a 747, that would be interesting, too.
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