Air Force Tests Hypersonic Experimental X-51 Jet To Favorable Reviews


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May 27, 2010 2:26 p.m. EST

Topics: science and technology, politics, rocketry, defense, technology, engineering, United States
Ayinde O. Chase - AHN News Editor

Los Angeles, CA, United States (AHN) - The Air Force tested a new experimental hypersonic jet Wednesday that broke all previous records.

The X-51 WaveRider sped across the Pacific at 3,500 miles an hour. Its hypersonic engine runs on air and boasts virtually no moving parts.

Launched from a B-52 bomber at 50,000 feet, the unmanned aircraft traveled for 200 seconds before plunging into the ocean as engineers planned. The engine propelled the X-51 upward to more than 70,000 feet, about 13.3 miles above Earth’s surface.

Earlier attempts by the agency at hypersonic flights lasted a maximum of 10 seconds.

Charlie Brink, the X-51 program manager for the Air Force, said the test went well and expressed confidence that the technology had a bright future.

For nearly 50 years the Air Force has been experimenting with hypersonic technology, which can propel vehicles at a velocity that cannot be achieved from traditional turbine-powered jet engines. The engine is widely considered to be the next step in aviation technology. Many compare the successful leap as equivalent to when planes went from using propellers to jet engines.

A passenger aircraft powered by hypersonic engines would be able to fly from Los Angeles to New York in 30 minutes.

Rockets could travel faster than existing cruise missiles, giving the military the ability to strike anywhere on the planet within an hour or less.

The X-51 Wave Rider was made by Boeing Phantom Works, the same firm that made the unmanned x-37b space shuttle.


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