Gizmodo: hypersonic

Mach 8 Hydrogen Hypersonic Airliner on the Drawing Board

Charlie White — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 09:51:37 EDT

It looks like that Boeing jet we showed you yesterday isn't going to be the only airplane using hydrogen if the European Union has its way. The European Space Agency just got $14.5 million in a second round of funding from the EU to study the idea of developing A2, a hydrogen-fueled hypersonic aircraft that might travel at an incredible speed of Mach 5.5. They're studying what it would take to build an aircraft so fast that you could fly from Brussels to Sydney in 4.6 hours. Sheesh, that's 10,407 miles. There's even talk of an engine that could propel the craft to Mach 8. This rocket plane makes the Mach 2 of the Concorde seem glacially slow.

The trick here is to develop a special engine they're calling Scimitar, capable of thrusting the craft to those rocket-like speeds. It will be a rocket engine with a turbo compressor added, without needing liquid oxygen like those used in the boosters that send spacecraft into orbit. Such an engine is also capable of slower flight, allowing the aircraft to fly over land where supersonic speeds aren't permitted because of sonic booms.

The researchers are proposing a big plane, too. Check out the A2's size next to the gigantic Airbus A380 in the graphic above. This A2 hyperliner is big enough for 300 passengers, and the engineers are hoping to make it cost-effective enough for tickets to ride on the huge plane to cost about the same as a normal business class seat does today. [The Register, via Ecotality Life]

NASA Getting a Little Sumthin'-Sumthin' from Virgin

Louis Ramirez — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:45:01 EDT

NASA and Virgin Galactic (two companies that make for strange bedfellows) are loosely teaming up to develop hypersonic commercial planes that'll send common plebes like you and me out into space. You see, NASA has the brains to make these planes, whereas Virgin has the cash flow. Together they can make planes that'll travel at speeds of over Mach 5. Let's just hope they can play Doom.

Virgin Galactic, NASA Team Up to Develop Space-plane Travel [National Geographic News via OhGizmo!]

– Louis Ramirez

Hypersonic Cruise Missiles Hit Mach 5

Louis Ramirez — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:35:11 EST

Tomahawk Cruise missiles may be known for their pinpoint accuracy, but when it comes to speed, there's no topping the X-51. As part of the Pentagon's Prompt Global Strike project, the X-51 is a hypersonic cruise missile that can strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour. The new missile, which is designed to hit Mach 5 (3,600 mph), destroys its targets by crashing into them at top speed. Tomahawks by comparison, top out at 550 mph. The Pentagon is hoping to test run the X-51 by 2008, despite protests that these missiles could trigger a nuclear war. I gotta say, World War III aside, these missiles are mighty impressive considering how difficult it is to maintain hypersonic flight. – Louis Ramirez

Hypersonic Cruise Missile [Popular Mechanics]

Falcon Hypersonic Jet to Fly at Mach 10 in 2008

Charlie White — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 14:45:50 EDT

The Air Force is preparing to test its Mach 10 speedster, the unmanned Falcon hypersonic test vehicle that will pave the way for jets that can fly faster than a bat out of hell on their way to spying on everyone, dropping bombs and even slinging satellites into orbit.

Expected to first fly in 2008, its creators at Lockheed Martin and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are putting the final touches on its propulsion system, where the trick is transitioning between jet turbine engines, which work up to Mach 4, and scramjets for higher speeds.

This is one lightning-fast jet, fully three times faster than its predecessor, the SR-71 Blackbird. We were only waiting for this moment to arise, when one day this technology might find its way into passenger planes. – Charlie White

Falcon Fills Blackbird's Shoes [DefenseTech]