"We are about to fly at Mach 10"

[rpm]

source

Ramjet aims at record Mach 10 speed
By Philip Chien
SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

NASA will attempt to set the world speed record for an air-intake engine tomorrow.
    The X-43A Hyper-X is a supersonic ramjet that may lead to more efficient launch vehicles and missiles in the future.
    "We are about to fly at Mach 10 — 7,000 mph — a small aircraft inflight with a supersonic ramjet which has never flown at these speeds before; it will be another world record," said project manager Vince Rauch.
    Mach 1 is the speed of sound, and anything above Mach 5 is considered hypersonic flight. A previous X-43A flight on March 27 reached Mach 6.83, and set the speed record for an air-intake engine.
"The data we're going out there to get is something that at this time cannot be obtained any other way other than through flight," said chief engineer Laurie Marshall.
    A B-52 will carry the X-43A to a test area over the Pacific Ocean northwest of Los Angeles. At an altitude of 40,000 feet the B-52 will drop the X-43A with its booster rocket. The rocket will accelerate the X-43A to Mach 10 at an altitude of 110,000 feet and separate.
    Then the X-43A is on its own and will ignite its engine and attempt to sustain level flight at Mach 10.
    The X-43A program cost taxpayers $230 million for three vehicles. The first flight ended in failure when its booster rocket made a sharp turn and had to be destroyed. The second flight set the Mach 6.83 speed record.
    Although tomorrow's flight will mark the completion of the X-43A project, engineers said they are hopeful that a follow-on program will be approved to improve performance.

[Otto]

It might go Mach 10...., but it'll never reach 'Ludicrous' speed...

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by Otto
It might go Mach 10...., but it'll never reach 'Ludicrous' speed...

"They've gon to plaid"


The B52 mothership is probably being preflighted right now about 3 miles down the road from me.

[rpm]

Yeah Guns, you definitely live near history. I used to love driving past Edwards otw Bakersfield.

[Gunslinger]

the last time the x43 flew I got to see "balls 8" (name for the B-52 for its tail number 008) do its preflight.  Weird though I havnt heard a sonic boom in weeks?

EDIT:  The other day around sunset I saw an F16 take off at full burner from my back porch.  THAT was cool!

[lasersailor184]

I've never been near or heard a sonic boomn (that I know of).  What is it like and how loud is it?

[Yeager]

Its like a thunder clap 30,000 feet directly above your head, far away.... yet it seems to fill the entire atmosphere around you and you feel a single pulse of deep end monster bass frequency pass  through your body.

Thinking back on it the only sonic boom I ever heard was from a plane so far up all you could see was its contrail.  If a plane were to break the barrier close to you it might be an entirely shockingly different experience.  Im guessing

[Airhead]

Originally posted by Yeager
Its like a thunder clap 30,000 feet directly above your head, far away.... yet it seems to fill the entire atmosphere around you and you feel a single pulse of deep end monster bass frequency pass  through your body.

 

Yup. Back when I was in grade school we'd hear them all the time, always way high up. If we were out at recess and heard one we'd look to see which way the contrails were pointing, outbound or inbound. If they were outgoing we'd keep on playing- inbound we'd all rush inside the classroom and crawl under our desks.

I miss the Cold War.

[Chairboy]

Whenever the shuttle landed at Edwards, everyone in Los Angeles would be able to share in the experience via the two-part sonic boom.  Boom-BOOM.  

It'd shake our house, and the cats would go nuts.

[Gunslinger]

as I said we havnt had any lately but we do get up to 4 or 5 a day sometimes.  Some just sound like thunder.  

Other's sound like a dam bomb went off right behind you and or loud enough to make you duck from nothing in particular.  I'm glad my kids finally got used to them they used to both freak out bad.  My wife and I turned into a game.  Everytime one goes off we yell out boooooom!

My german shepard is a different story....she really freaks out.  One 4th of july she ripped off the skirting on a mobile home with her teeth to crawl underneith.

[rpm]

We hear them on a semi-regular basis north of Ft. Worth. With Carswell JRB and Lockheed here they have lots of planes up. They say they don't break sonic over populated areas...they lie.

[SunTracker]

I believe the fastest man made object traveled at 36,000mph.  It was some sort of satellite.  Mach 10 seems boring in comparison.

[Dune]

I grew up on the NW edge of the Barry Goldwater Range in SW Arizona.  We used to get sonic booms all the time.  Occasionally they'd really shake the windows.  It was also fun to watch the C-130's do flare drops at night.  Suddenly a 10 to 15 parachute flare pattern would light up the sky to the south.  You could see it for 20 miles.

[jigsaw]

Originally posted by Dune
I grew up on the NW edge of the Barry Goldwater Range in SW Arizona.  We used to get sonic booms all the time.  Occasionally they'd really shake the windows.  It was also fun to watch the C-130's do flare drops at night.  Suddenly a 10 to 15 parachute flare pattern would light up the sky to the south.  You could see it for 20 miles.

When I was living in Phoenix, I'd occasionally see a single bright blue flare.
Never did find out what they were for.

[rpm]

Originally posted by SunTracker
I believe the fastest man made object traveled at 36,000mph.  It was some sort of satellite.  Mach 10 seems boring in comparison.

This is an air breathing engine operating inside the atmosphere. Mach 10 is hardly boring.

It is the end of the line for the project, but a great jumping off point for the next leap forward. Imagine troop flights to Iraq in 30 minutes. The military applications are huge.