Simply hypersonic

[High Sided]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-vandenberg-hypersonic-aircraft-20110812,0,6403143.story

[TravelGal]

So Ank and all you guys, what's the problem? What are your theories? Too much heat? Too fast? Protective material too flexible? What? The peanut gallery wants to know.

[racer2c]

So Ank and all you guys, what's the problem? What are your theories? Too much heat? Too fast? Protective material too flexible? What? The peanut gallery wants to know.

Reverse engineering the alien spacecrafts at Roswell isn't as easy as it looks. Especially decoding the hieroglyphs on the control panels.

[dando]

So Ank and all you guys, what's the problem? What are your theories? Too much heat? Too fast? Protective material too flexible? What? The peanut gallery wants to know.

Done blowed up. :gomer:

-Kevin

[Gnam]

"Here's what we know," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz, DARPA HTV-2 program manager. "We know how to boost the aircraft to near space. We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight. We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight."


http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2011/08/12/Hypersonic-flight-ends-in-crash/UPI-82111313171673/#ixzz1UqXks9ZG


I don't know if the aircraft has any control surfaces to help it manouver. From the photos it looks like a bullet. But, if it got sideways at Mach 20 and started tumbling, then it would rip apart pretty quickly.

That or it went back in time, and there are now two of these things stuck in some prehistoric swamp.

[Wheel-Nut]

Done blowed up. :gomer:

-Kevin

Everyone knows you are not supposed to paint the undertray.

[Elmo T]

That or it went back in time, and there are now two of these things stuck in some prehistoric swamp.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2lo3mtv.jpg

[opinionated ow]

Done blowed up. :gomer:

-Kevin

And only marginally less ugly than the new indycar.

[Indy]

Reverse engineering the alien spacecrafts at Roswell isn't as easy as it looks. Especially decoding the hieroglyphs on the control panels.

No, silly, the government figgered all that out years ago. This is just another disinfo stunt to make us think that they are not 100 years advanced on the private sector, meanwhile they are travelling to Jupiter and having tea with Andromedans. :tinfoilhat:

[Insomniac]

I'm going to guess there is some instability and it is made worse by the computer/software analyzing the data and making decisions.

[High Sided]

maybe it's just to dam fast???:gomer:

[Michaelhatesfans]

I'm going to guess there is some instability and it is made worse by the computer/software analyzing the data and making decisions.

I wondered if the things too damned fast for those sorts of controls. Lord knows I've died on a more than a few online games because of a bit of a buffer in the connection.

[Insomniac]

I wondered if the things too damned fast for those sorts of controls. Lord knows I've died on a more than a few online games because of a bit of a buffer in the connection.

They should consider flying it with a ground based self destruct instead of letting the computer crash it. They could at least get more data before the computer does actually crash it. They may be able to pinpoint a data/software glitch (if that was the cause), but I'd be concerned that each test flight has been about 9 minutes long. Discover as many faults as you can.

[Gnam]

standby for Ludicrous Speed...


X-51A WaveRider

The WaveRider will fall like a bomb for about four seconds over the Pacific before its booster rocket engine ignites and propels the nearly wingless aircraft for 30 seconds to about Mach 4.5, before being jettisoned.

Then the cruiser's scramjet engine, notable because it has virtually no moving parts, ignites. The ignition sequence begins burning ethylene, transitioning over about 10 seconds to JP-7 jet fuel — the same fuel once used by the famed Lockheed Corp.-made SR-71 Blackbird spy plane.

The WaveRider is expected to accelerate to about Mach 6 as it climbs to nearly 70,000 feet.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hypersonic-revolution-20120813,0,4998122.story


The test was scheduled for 10am this morning. Haven't seen any reports on its success or failure yet.

[stroker]

standby for Ludicrous Speed...



The test was scheduled for 10am this morning. Haven't seen any reports on its success or failure yet.

It's prolly halfway to Mars by now...

[High Sided]

just needs windows and a Virgin logo

[dando]

Finally found some news on this.

http://www.businessinsider.com/wired-the-air-forces-x-51a-waverider-test-was-a-total-failure-2012-8


At 9:35 EDT Wired's defense vertical Danger Room tweeted:

Bad news for the USAF's mach 5 missile. X-51A failed its flight test; a fin problem caused a loss of control b4 the engine could kick in.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/wired-the-air-forces-x-51a-waverider-test-was-a-total-failure-2012-8#ixzz23cnTjkVA


-Kevin

[SteveH]

a fin problem

http://www.formulaf1.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/Kimi_Drunk.jpg

:gomer:

[Gnam]

dang. stupid friction.

[Elmo T]

Can't we remember ANYTHING about what the ancient aliens taught us? :shakehead

[Gnam]

Confirmed.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/15/unmanned-us-military-hypersonic-craft-fails/

Article says they have one prototype remaining. Hope they have better luck in the future.

[Gnam]

And they celebrated with sausages.


X-51A Waverider Achieves Hypersonic Goal On Final Flight

An experimental unmanned aircraft developed for the U.S. Air Force went hypersonic during a recent test off the Southern California coast, flying at more than five times the speed of sound.

The Air Force said Friday the X-51A WaveRider flew for more than three minutes under power from its exotic scramjet engine and hit a speed of Mach 5.1.

The test on Wednesday marked the fourth and final flight of an X-51A by the Air Force, which has spent $300 million studying scramjet technology that it hopes can be used to deliver strikes around the globe within minutes.

http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_23166437/experimental-air-force-aircraft-goes-five-times-speed

http://s23.postimg.org/razvho8wb/X_51_USAF.jpg

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_05_02_2013_p0-575769.xml

[dando]

According to this piece, the tab is $2B overall for the hypersonic research.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/05/03/190327/experimental-aircraft-speeds-to.html#.UYY1gqJOQb1

-Kevin

[Indy]

Just think if we put that much investment into renewable energy. We might end up with something we could sell instead of something we can use to spread more evil. :shakehead

[KLang]

I'm pretty sure we've blown way more than that on green crap. :irked:

[dando]

I'm not going to defend the $$$ behind this project, but I think we've been there, done that on 'green' energy (Solyndra for $1K, Alex). And there are other examples. :shakehead I'm all for green, but I don't want the Feds running it. Stupid is as stupid does. :saywhat: As in the past, when the spending on NASA was debated, we've reaped much more than we sowed from the space program. I suggest watching the Modern Marvels episode 'It Came from Space'. And now we rely on the Russkies to get us to the ISS? :laugh: :shakehead :cry:

-Kevin

[datachicane]

For those playing the home game, Fed spending on defense and NASA==good, Fed spending on energy==bad. I'll take "Influential Lobbies" for $1000.

No real horse in this race as to whether the HTV program is a brilliant idea or a boondoggle, just sayin'.

[nrc]

Just think if we put that much investment into renewable energy. We might end up with something we could sell instead of something we can use to spread more evil. :shakehead

I prefer the "spread more evil" thing. Spreading it at hypersonic speeds sounds particularly awesome.

[Indy]

Well, nrc, that just makes me sad. Seriously.

[nrc]

You gotta admit, "Hypersonic Evil" would be a great name for a band.

[Indy]

I guess it's all good until your baby is the one burned alive by a killing machine.

[Insomniac]

Just think if we put that much investment into renewable energy. We might end up with something we could sell instead of something we can use to spread more evil. :shakehead

You mean nuclear power? ;)