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Mach 10 X43A Flight Successful

Posted by timothy on from the heck-of-a-commute dept.

Sector Bug writes "NASA's X43A research aircraft made its third and final flight today, firing its scramjet engine at Mach 10 (7,000 MPH) or close to it, setting a new record. "

18 of 370 comments (clear)

  1. With apologies to Marvin by daeley · · Score: 5, Funny

    X43A blurs past the camera. It is silent.

    Marvin: "Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!"

    EARTH SHATTERING KABOOM!

    Marvin: "At last!"

    --
    I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
  2. I guess it is the first 7000MPH post by roman_mir · · Score: 5, Funny

    we shall call it the ludicrous speed.

    --
    You can't handle the truth.
  3. Mach by MikeMacK · · Score: 5, Funny
    "Mach Number" was named after the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach.

    I understand he was a very fast guy, much to his wife's chagrin.

  4. Good by Dark+Paladin · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now, when I tell those guys I want my pizza in 30 minutes or less, there is no excuse!

    --
    52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
  5. Guinness Record by Embedded+Geek · · Score: 3, Funny
    In case you're wondering, it beat its own world record (Mach 6.83, 5000MPH) set back in March.

    By the way (and massively OT), doesn't a "Guinness Record" sound like something you'd like to break yourself, at least if it involved consumption?

    --

    "Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."

  6. Jobs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Steve Jobs invented mach speed.

  7. Let's hope... by HexaByte · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's hope that this type of engine isn't adopted by commercial arlines. If it were, a flight cross country would take less than an hour, and the flight crew wouldn't have time to get us all drinks and peanuts.

    --
    HexaByte - he's a square and a half!
  8. Re:News Delayed by That's+Unpossible! · · Score: 3, Funny

    It takes a while for them to catch up because CNN is only operating at Mach 9.

    --
    Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
  9. Re:Speed comparison question by cephyn · · Score: 4, Funny

    MPH? we still use that? I thought maybe in this age of newfangled units, we'd at least get like, .41 times that of the Hubble Telescope, or 34.7 times faster than a lambourghini diablo.

    --
    Moo.
  10. Yes but... by wviperw · · Score: 4, Funny

    The important question is, what would Mach 10 be in warp speed?

    --
    Nothing disturbs me more than blind loyalism towards some unrealistic and over-idealistic notion of one's nationality.
    1. Re:Yes but... by happyfrogcow · · Score: 5, Funny

      TOS Warp or Next Generation Warp?

      You should win a free slashdot premium subscription for that question.

      Nerd of the Day honors to you!

  11. At Mach 10 by boatboy · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, at Mach 10, can anyone hear you scream?

  12. Re:Speed comparison question by Kehvarl · · Score: 3, Funny

    African or European?

    Yes.

  13. But can it do... by dark-br · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...the Kessel run in under twelve parsecs? ;)

  14. Re:Speed comparison question by foniksonik · · Score: 3, Funny

    At least it doesn't refer to how many Horses equivalent are Powering the damn thing ;-p

    --
    A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
  15. That's km/h by SysKoll · · Score: 4, Funny
    12000 Km/h is Kelvin times meter per hour. A Kevin is centigrages counted from the absolute zero. For laymen, the association of a temperature with a speed unit is a bit baffling, so let me explain. Km/h is a unit used exclusively to measure the speed reached by those people that run around at high speed while yelling "AAAAARGH! MY UNDERWEAR IS ON FIRE!!!". That's right, the dreaded Underwear Spontaneous Combustion Syndrome, often caused in young guys oogling all these hot chicks in Californian campuses. Witnesses of an USCS occurence generally scramble for water buckets.

    An USCS episode can be dramatic, depending on the Km/h value. At high Km/h values, the victim is running so fast that the bucket carriers cannot catch him. On top of that, the wind of his frantic run vents the fire, which of course burns even hotter, quickening his race. After a certain threshold, the poor guy's genitals burns to a crisp. The critical speed is called "Mach speed" (pronounced Mack), after an early victim.

    So unless you are referring to these sad but uncomon accidents, the metric unit you want to use is km/h, with a small k meaning kilo, not the capital K of Kelvin.

    --

    --
    Mad science! Robots! Underwear! Cute girls! Full comic online! http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/

  16. Re:Speed comparison question by mazarin5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    To allow particle accelerators you need to expand your parameters a bit to include natural objects accelerated by man.

    No no no, you're looking at it all wrong...

    The particle accelerator is a man-made object accelerated to 0.99c.

    You just have to use the electron's frame reference!

    --
    Fnord.
  17. rather than leaving a card through the letterbox.. by RMH101 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...instead you'd have your house, garden and neighbourhood replaced with a huge crater with a squashed packet from amazon in the centre?