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NASA Tests X-43A
An anonymous reader writes "NASA TV has live coverage of the
launch of the X-43A
scram jet flight. Hopes are that the unmanned vehicle will reach speeds in
excess of mach 7-10. The last flight a few years ago failed." Stephen Watts sends this link for X-43A background information.
Noooo, don't Slashdot it, you insensitive clods!
;-(
I was getting a great feed of the boring pre-launch stuff for the last 2 hours, now y'all'll've gone and ruined it
and destroy it again because they forgot something
good idea
And, no, I should not have used the goddamn Preview mode first.
Nasa has a lot of interesting pictures of the X-43A posted.
Even if its moving at mach 7...we can still slashdot it!
Regards
elFarto
...and they can't show a readable countdown timer on the screen.
"All stations we are a go for launch at this time..."
"10 seconds launch on my mark"
"5 4 3 2 1 launch"
"Ignition!"
"Guidance on"
"we are supersonic"
(bunch of everything is nominal)
past mach 3
separation of booster
fuel is off
recovery complete
"Good job"
"Really pretty"
Success. Launch and recovery went off without a hitch. There's a lot of happy looking people in control right now.
it all uses the same bandwidth pool right?
mach 5 = 3,806.03525 mph
mach 5 = 6,125.22 km/h
Thats one fast RV. I thought 110mph in a Winnebago was fast, but this beats that hand down.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but 3 lefts do - Lew of GO magazine
I had to laugh out-loud when one of the NASA folks (S2?) referred to the B52 as a BUFF. (Air Force jargon: Big Ugly Fat Fscker ...)
Still chuckling a bit. =)
James
> Mach 5 is kinda meh. X15-A2 did mach 6.8 with pilot, in the 1960's
Yes, it did. However the scram jet is a significant improvement just in terms of fuel savings. Not having to carry the oxygen itself and having the system work means more then the final speed it reached.
What they tested today doesn't carry oxygen, instead scooping it out of the atmosphere.
Sky News
BBC
Well yeah, but that's with overclocking.
You were 80% angel, 10% demon. The rest was hard to explain. - Over The Rhine
"Math in a song is good."-Linford
From Wikipedia:
When the air inside a ramjet exceeds the speed of sound (meaning an aircraft speed of around Mach 5+) combustion fails to occur properly. This is overcome in a scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet). Scramjets are a new concept still in the research stages. Usually, the inlet is much wider (typically the entire underside of the craft) so the compression is less and the air remains at supersonic speeds. Some designs use reactive chemicals or gases other than standard jet fuel. Normally, the design of the jet is much more complex. Like a ramjet the scramjet must already be moving extremely fast before it will start working, but theoretically, speeds in excess of Mach 20 are possible.
Be faithful to your obsessions. Identify them and be faithful to them, let them guide you like a sleepwalker. JG Ballard
Circumfrence of Earth / Mach 5
It would take about 6 and a half hours to get from here and back again.
So in "Hare We Go" when Bugs Bunny threw the baseball around the world to show Christopher Columbus that the world is round, he threw the ball at about Mach 785 or so. Somehow he managed to put enough spin on it that it orbited the planet, the natives applied the stickers, AND he caught the ball.
You are wrong.
A supersonic combusting ramjet is way way way incredibly more technically challenging than a regular ramjet.
Managing the shock wave systems to provide adequate fuel mixing and ignition is only barely possible today with the biggest computer simulations on the planet.
I don't know what you consider "revolutionary", but sustained supersonic combustion is a Really Big Deal.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
"The hypersonic aircraft, a cross between a jet and a rocket, was dropped from the wing of a modified B-52 bomber, boosted by an auxiliary rocket to an altitude of nearly 100,000 feet (30,000 meters) and flew on its own power for 10 seconds, said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
"After the 10-second test firing, the X-43A glided through the atmosphere conducting a series of aerodynamic maneuvers for about six minutes before plunging into the Pacific Ocean, as planned."
Channel News Asia: Experimental hypersonic aircraft breaks world speed record, flies at Mach 7
"A minute before 2 p.m., the craft was dropped from 40,000 feet. A few seconds later, the rocket flared, boosting the jet skyward on a streak of flame and light. At about 100,000 feet, the rocket was dropped away.
"The scramjet then took over, using up about two pounds of gaseous hydrogen fuel before it glided and then plunged into the Pacific Ocean about 400 miles off the California coast."
Mercury News: Preliminary data shows NASA jet streaked 5,000 mph in test flight
Taking stuff apart since 1969 (TM)
probably wouldnt need to. The speed it would impact the ocean would bash the hell out of it.
Scramjets are very simple (mechanically) devices. No moving parts. However, they are geometrically, extremely complex and precise. The speed it would hit the ocean would damage the combustion chamber to the extent it would be about as useful as a scramjet made from a tin can.
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