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Brits To Crash Test a Scramjet

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the please-give-us-videos-of-that dept.

hywel_ap_ieuan writes "The BBC is reporting that a the "Hyshot consortium" will be testing a scramjet called Hyshot III in Australia on Friday. The fun part: "If everything goes to plan, the experiment will begin at a height of 35 km. As the engine continues its downward path the fuel in the scramjet is expected to automatically ignite. The scientists will then have just six seconds to monitor its performance before the £1m engine eventually crashes into the ground.""

14 of 314 comments (clear)

  1. They should pool resources by Locke2005 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Perhaps they could team up with some Earth Sciences researchers doing work on crater formation...

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  2. The best kind of Science! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    All expeirements should end in some kind of explosion! What good is being a scienctist if you don't get to blow shit up?!?

  3. Pilot's motto: by Tackhead · · Score: 4, Funny
    Old pilot's motto: "Airspeed, altitude or brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight."

    > "If everything goes to plan, the experiment will begin at a height of 35 km. As the engine continues its downward path the fuel in the scramjet is expected to automatically ignite. The scientists will then have just six seconds to monitor its performance before the £1m engine eventually crashes into the ground."

    Revised for 2006: "We'll settle for one out of three these days... as long as you have a hell of a lot of it to compensate."

    1. Re:Pilot's motto: by LunaticTippy · · Score: 4, Funny
      OK, we've got 35km. Altitude, check.

      Scramjet pointed straight down. Airspeed, check.

      Getting paid to destructively test a million pound device, wow. That'd be so cool. Brains, check.

      Looks like they've got 3/3.

      --
      Man, you really need that seminar!
    2. Re:Pilot's motto: by mctk · · Score: 4, Funny
      Old pilot's motto: "Airspeed, altitude or brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight."

      New pilot's motto: "Always review the flight plan before committing to a mission."

      --
      Paul Grosfield - the quicker picker upper.
  4. not the right way to start by blastard · · Score: 5, Funny
    Somehow, paving "the way for ultrafast, intercontinental air travel" by crashing your very first example does not sound like the way you want to start things off.

    Then again, the British did usher in the passener jet age with the Comet.

  5. I know nothing about this stuff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    and that will be obvious after my question........

    but couldn't they build it to survive impact into the ocean, and then retrieve it?

    I seem to remember the US space program doing this when they first went to the moon. And that man who singlehandedly built the rocket and went to the moon. What was his name? Apollo Creed? Anyways Tom Hanks was really great in that movie. Forest Gump I think it was.

  6. Crash! by Colgate2003 · · Score: 5, Funny
    From the article

    On its descent the engine is expected to reach a top speed of Mach 7.6 or over 9,000km/ hour.

    I think crash is a bit of an understatement!

  7. They should have just talked to the Americans by Expert+Determination · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm sure they could suggest hundreds of places where they'd like to see a new crater. Two birds with one stone 'n' all that.

    --
    "The White House is not an intelligence-gathering agency," -- Scott McClellan, Whitehouse spokesman.
  8. Does this mean that by thejeek · · Score: 4, Funny

    it can only be deemed a failure if it *doesn't* crash? -- jeek

  9. I can't wait... by martinultima · · Score: 4, Funny

    Until MythBusters decides to try this one!

    --
    Creative misinterpretation is your friend.
  10. Only on Slashdot by dsci · · Score: 5, Funny

    Do you see a comment by "heatdeath" responded to by "LiquidCoooled."

    --
    Computational Chemistry products and services.
  11. I'll tell you the same thing I tell my wife....! by JustASlashDotGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Anything worth doing can be done in 6 seconds! ;)

  12. Sounds like... by slughead · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... Windows 98. No, seriously, think about it:

    The scientists will then have just six seconds to monitor its performance before the £1m engine eventually crashes into the ground.

    Replace the word "scientists" with "consumers", "£1m" with "$5b", and "engine" with "OS." Also, add the phrase "If it boots," before the statement.

    --
    Latewire