Aussie - American Scramjet Hits Mach 10
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In working jointly with the Australian Defense Science and Technology Organization, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency {DARPA, the nice people who brought you the Internet} has successfully tested a scramjet engine in the outback of Australia. Top speed recorded was Mach 10, 10 times the speed of sound, or 6,835 miles per hour.
The test vehicle was launched by a rocket booster, as the scramjet needs to be traveling above supersonic speeds to begin working. All preliminary flight data was examined, with the conclusions made that complete success was had.
Both government entities lauded the other’s efforts, and announced that hypersonic flights might become reality in the not-too-distant future. Hypersonic refers to movement in excess of 5 times the speed of sound.
Other related uses for these scramjet vehicles could be low orbit launch of satellites and extreme speed long range military missions.
[tags] scramjet, hypersonic, DARPA, ADSTO, satellite launch, Mach number [/tags]
