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X43-A on to Mach 10

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the place-hands-on-cheeks-and-pull-back dept.

Cat_Byte writes "On March 28 we read about the X43-A hitting Mach 7 with a successful scramjet test. Prior to that on June 2, 2001 the craft tore itself to pieces during a trial run. Well now they are preparing to hit Mach 10. The upcoming Mach 10 run of the X-43A appears to mark an end of the program. The seven-year, approximately $250 million Hyper-X program was created to provide unique "first time" data on hypersonic air-breathing engine technologies. "At Mach 7, the front leading edge of the vehicle would see about 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit. At Mach 10, its probably twice that -- twice the heat load essentially," Sitz explained FYI, Mach 10 is about 2 miles per second."

8 of 459 comments (clear)

  1. Fuel economy? by a10t2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ah, but does it get 1700 miles per gallon?

  2. Re:Mach 10? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nah, it's Gillette's new blades that are scheduled for release in the year 2038.

  3. Big deal... by tinrobot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Two miles per second means you can cross the Pacific in under an hour.

    It's still going to take 4 hours just to get to the airport, check your baggage and get through security.

  4. But can it do... by Alzheimers · · Score: 5, Funny

    the Kessel run in under twelve parsecs?

  5. Re:Mach 10? by TomorrowPlusX · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does it bother anybody else that they've (essentially) taken a vibrator and put razor blades on it?

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    lorem ipsum, dolor sit amet
  6. Overheard at the press conference... by paiute · · Score: 5, Funny

    General Tufnel: The Mach numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
    Reporter: Oh, I see. And most planes go up to ten?
    General Tufnel: Exactly.
    Reporter: Does that mean it's faster? Is it any faster?
    General Tufnel: Well, it's one faster, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most pilots, you know, will be flying at ten. You're on ten, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your airspeed. Where can you go from there? Where?
    Reporter: I don't know.
    General Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
    Reporter: Put it up to eleven.
    General Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One faster.
    Reporter: Why don't you just make ten faster and make ten be the top number and make that a little faster?
    General Tufnel: [Pause] These go to eleven.

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    If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
  7. Oh jeeze by festers · · Score: 5, Funny

    "from the place-hands-on-cheeks-and-pull-back dept."

    How in the world did the goatse.cx guy convince Taco to post that caption?

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    "Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief."
  8. Re:Mach 10? by JabberWokky · · Score: 5, Funny
    It goes Warp 10 which apparently causes 2 of the characters to "evolve" into gecko-like creatures. another completely ridiculous plot that took place around the time of the episode where they found Amelia Earhart

    Yeah, but they saved a lot of money on car insurance. That came in handy when they found the Chevy... floating in... space.

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    Evan

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    "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien