Mach 7
The X-43A's telemetry data was recovered, and that little demon cracked Mach 7 breathing air. Damn. What an achievement.
I will never forget watching that plane on the tip of its rocket. It cracked Mach 3 in about 30 seconds, then disengaged from its rocket, its jet fired up--and it took off like a bat out of hell, making Mach 3 look like an old lady driving to church on Sunday. Damn.
Thanks to Samuel Tai for finding the link--and for helping out with the live-blogging of it all yesterday!
Quick correction: an ordinary solid fuel rocket got it to Mach 7. It fired its scramjet for only ten seconds at that speed.
Really? Are you sure? It sure looked like it went like a bat out of hell after disengaging the booster.
Mr. Goodfellow is incorrect. The Pegasus booster got it to ~Mach 5, which is the threshold speed for SCRAMJET ignition. Once the X-43A fired up the SCRAMJET, it went to Mach 7 in 10 seconds, after which it exhausted its fuel supply.
Mach 5-Mach 7 in 10 seconds! Think about that kind of kick in the pants. Google calculator says that's an acceleration of 1500 mph in 10 seconds!
The next flight should carry even more fuel. NASA is shooting to reach Mach 10.
I want one. Then I could sleep in and still get to my morning classes on time, no parking worries either!
Totally awesome link. Best link of the week, I think.
I'm not entirely, 100% certain, but I believe I am correct. I checked the fact sheet from Orbital Sciences and it indicates the separation should be at Mach 7. Also, the propulsion engineer, Huebner, is quoted as saying "[o]ur vehicle under airbreathing power went over 15 miles." Now, if the vehicle had separated at Mach 5 and accelerated at a speed necessary to reach Mach 7 in 10 seconds it would have travelled only 12 miles in that time, whereas if it had separated at Mach 7 and maintained that speed, or slightly increased it, it would have travelled the 15 miles plus. Additionally, this article from space.com contains a quote from a NASA spokesperson indicating the separation occured at Mach 7, not Mach 5.
If anyone has any hard data I'd be glad if they brought it forward.
Well, I will concede to Mr. Goodfellow that we are both arguing from incomplete data. The telemetry will show the truth.
Interesting spin from the on-air media:
CNN touts the technology as a possible boon for comercial and even passenger trave.
Fox news blurbed that it was an awesome bomb delivery device.
oops, trave=travel