BBCNews: Revolutionary jet engine tested (scramjet)

[Up2Late]

Saturday, 25 March 2006, 07:28 GMT

Revolutionary jet engine tested

A new jet engine designed to fly at seven times the speed of sound appears to have been successfully tested.


Scramjets do not work until they reach five times the speed of sound

The scramjet engine, the Hyshot III, was launched at Woomera, 500km north of Adelaide in Australia, on the back of a two stage Terrier-Orion rocket. Once 35km up, the Hyshot III fell back to Earth, reaching speeds analysts hope will have topped Mach 7.6 (9,000 km/h).

It is hoped the British designed Hyshot III will pave the way for ultra fast, intercontinental air travel. An international team of researchers is presently analysing data from the experiment, to see if it was a full success.

The scientists had just six seconds to monitor its performance before the £1m engine crashed into the ground. Rachel Owen, a researcher from UK defence firm QinetiQ, which designed the scramjet, said it looked like everything had gone according to plan.

(more at link below)

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4832254.stm#graphic>

[leveymg]

1. If this is a propulsion system, why did it fall into the ground?

In just six seconds?! Somehow, I think this needs a little bit more development before they start strapping them to 747s for 20 minute trips from NY to LA.

[DRoseDARs]

5. Because the test platform was 'bout the size of a large child...

...not exactly built to carry a whole lot of fuel. ;)

Look again at the provided picture in the OP. That's the test platform; I've seen model rocket enthusiasts launch bigger toys.

[oblivious]

2. I was hoping sailing ships would replace transoceanic flights.

[CJCRANE]

4. Or helium-powered airships..!..nt

[megatherium]

20. Cruise ships are a lot more pleasant way of traveling than by air. nt

[Greeby]

3. FYI QinetiQ is being sold to the Carlyle Group

Naturlich :eyes:

[Dogmudgeon]

6. There's always a Dark Cloud behind the Silver Lining

:(

--p!

[ClintonTyree]

7. I was going to say.........

that the military would stake their claim to this technology before the private sector. They're always interested in new and exciting ways to kill people faster. :eyes:

[leveymg]

8. Mach 7 cruise missile technology

Virtually undetectable before it hits its target. Unstoppable by any defense.

[daleo]

12. The Russians are said to have some fast stuff too

Or maybe that is what you are referring to?

[donco6]

14. And we're still spending billions on Star Wars.

What a waste.

[banana republican]

11. They already have

Does the United States Air Force or one of America's intelligence agencies have a secret hypersonic aircraft capable of a Mach 6 performance? Continually growing evidence suggests that the answer to this question is yes.


The outside world uses the name Aurora because a censor's slip let it appear below the SR-71 Blackbird and U-2 in the 1985 Pentagon budget request. Even if this was the actual name of the project, it would have by now been changed after being compromised in such a manner. The plane's real name has been kept a secret along with its existence. This is not unfamiliar though, the F-117a stealth fighter was kept a secret for over ten years after its first pre-production test flight. The project is what is technically known as a Special Access Program (SAP). More often, such projects are referred to as "black programs".


http://www.fighter-planes.com/

[Roland99]

10. ARGGHH!! This is awesome technology that could reignite space exploration

and it will probably be monopolized and weaponized.

[Zorro]

16. Requires an atmosphere

So space exploration is out of the picture.

A reusable first stage for launching a quick reaction, tactical LEO microsatellite is much a more plausible application.

[Roland99]

17. Isn't NASA experiementing with ScramJet technology themselves?

By reigniting space exploration I don't mean using this device to travel in space. I meant, well, what I said, reigniting space exploration.

[Robb]

21. Yeah, they botched one last year

Dropped off a B-52, jump-started with a conventional missile, then it was supposed to go hypersonic.

Didn't. :thumbsdown:

On edit: My mistake, they actually got a second one to work, Mach 10-ish. Google X-43A. :)

[formercia]

9. Something you might use for an earth penetrating warhead.

at Mach 7+, the kinetic energy alone would do a lot of damage.

[Richard Steele]

13. Yes it would.

And it seems a bit ODD that this thing was tested
under "straight down" conditions.

Don't we normally 'test' things under the conditions
they are designed to be used in?
Like, say, testing a jet engine in HORIZONTAL flight?

If they tested this "straight down", doesn't that imply
that it is being developed specifically for a 'straight down' purpose?

[Up2Late]

15. Interesting point, I was just thinking that it might be the ease...

...of dropping a "lead balloon" to get it to Mach 5, but you could be right.

If they start making these out of Depleted Uranium, then I'll start to worry.

[formercia]

18. Or DU with a fissile core.

Real simple.

[jgmiller]

19. Some info

Just to set the record straight and maybe stop some conspiracy theories.

Countries around the world have been working on scramjets for decades with little success. The first problem is that you can't just ignite or turn on a scramjet and watch it fly. It needs to be traveling very fast to ignite, like mach 5+. This makes it very inefficient as a missile, if you've already spent the fuel and trouble to get the warhead to Mach 5 there is no reason to add a scramjet just to get to Mach 7. The next problem with them is that they consume fuel at an enormous rate. This is why the test lasted only 6 seconds, it was small and couldn't carry much fuel. This also makes it very bad for use as a weapon, a traditional chemical rocket can go just as fast and burn less fuel than a scramjet. The last thing you want if you're attacking someone is a massive vehicle just to deliver a few thousand pounds of explosives. It's also pointless for nuclear weapon delivery, an ICBM can travel a lot faster and further.

People envision scramjet technology for transportation because the vehicle already has to be pretty big to carry people so if you already have a big airframe adding alot of fuel isn't as difficult. Of course you still have to overcome the part of getting of the ground and getting to ignition speed.