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NASA Testing Supersonic X-51A Jet Tomorrow

Posted by Unknown on from the but-does-it-go-to-plaid? dept.

First time accepted submitter littlesparkvt writes "The NASA and the Pentagon's experimental aircraft could go from NY to London in about an hour. With a cost of 140 million dollars USD. During the test the X51-A will reach speeds of 1700 meters a second and climb to an altitude of 70,000 feet."

3 of 214 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Cost by BadgerRush · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, they are crashing the f22's into the desert

  2. It's not supersonic, it's hypersonic by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 5, Informative

    Above Mach 5 or so you have to start considering different physics about the air flow.

  3. Re:Cost by SplashMyBandit · · Score: 5, Informative

    Correct. Turns out that the 'Raptor' problem is, in fact, related to incorrect inflation of the "Combat Edge" chest corset of G-suits. This incorrect inflation also occurred on F-15s and F-16s but no one noticed. Only on the F-22 was it noticed/significant.

    Just in case you think I'm full of shit, here's a citation quoting USAF sources:
    http://www.military.com/daily-news/2012/08/01/air-force-confident-f22-oxygen-riddle-solved.html

    With that (apparently 20-year old) problem solved, Raptor is back in the air and back to Top Dog.