Fly Coast-to-Coast in 40 Minutes via Rocket Plane
In 1949, Qian Xuesen, Goddard professor at the California Institute of Technology, proposed a boost-glide hypersonic aircraft with a 3,107-mile range. It would take passengers from New York to San Francisco in a little under 45 minutes. The transcontinental passenger carrier would have been 78.9 feet long, 16.5 feet in diameter, with a wingspan of…
