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X-51 Waverider 'Scramjet' Test Flight Fails - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...der-scramjet-test-flight-fails

scibyte59 ScramJet

shared by Mars Base on 16 Aug 12 - No Cached

flight of the X-51A Waverider scramjet ended abruptly after the experimental aircraft suffered a control failure and broke apart during an attempt to fly at six times the speed of sound
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test flight took place off the coast of California and the X-51A was dropped from a B-52 bomber
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faulty control fin prevented it from starting its unique “airbreathing” scramjet engine
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The X-51 Waverider program is a cooperative effort of the Air Force, DARPA, NASA, Boeing and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
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technology would be successful enough to eventually be used for more efficient transport of payloads into orbit
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Pentagon has touted its ability to deliver strikes around the globe within minutes.
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craft was carried to about 15,240 meters (50,000 ft.) by a B-52 from Edwards Air Force Base in California
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dropped over the Pacific Ocean
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Designers were hoping the Waverider would reach Mach 6 or more
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scramjet (short for “supersonic combustion ramjet”) is an air-breathing engine, where intake air blows through its combustion chamber at supersonic speeds
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engine has no moving parts
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oxygen needed by the engine to combust is taken from the atmosphere passing through the vehicle, instead of from a tank onboard
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Some designers have predicted it could reach speeds of anywhere from Mach 12 to Mach 24. Mach 24 is more than 29,000 km/hour (18,000 miles per hour.) This could cut an 18-hour trip to Tokyo from New York City to less than 2 hours.
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May 2010, the first test of the vehicle had sort of a “successful” flight of 200 seconds of autonomous flight
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another test in 2011 failed
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