SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the Los-Angeles-to-Boston-in-less-than-an-hour dept.
In May of 2013, the Air Force successfully tested the X-51 WaveRider — an uncrewed, hypersonic "scramjet" capable of reaching Mach 5.1, or more than five times the speed of sound — by flying it at hypersonic speeds over the Pacific Ocean. Now, the Air Force is looking ahead to its next aircraft.
Air Force Chief Scientist Mica Endsley told Military.com this week that the agency is working on the next generation of its hypersonic vehicle. While the X-51 was a test designed to show that a scramjet craft was feasible, the Air Force now wants a vehicle that can "operate at the kind of temperatures you have when you are going at hypersonic speeds," and plans on building a guidance system that can also work at extreme speeds. The goal is to produce the new craft by 2023.
That is, of course, a long while away, and the US military has had some trouble with hypersonic defense technology. The X-51 was only successful after a string of high-profile failures, and last year, a hypersonic missile being tested by Department of Defense exploded during takeoff.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/2/8708255/x-51-waverider-mach-5-2023
Original Submission
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 05 2015, @07:28AM
I'm pretty sure Obama will no longer be in office by 2023.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 05 2015, @07:33AM
Time for an Executive Order declaring two equals four so Obama can have four terms! Vote Barack.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday June 05 2015, @01:47PM
Don't worry the next president puppet will be installed on time and speak and do what we say. I think this new model will feature boobs. But the agenda will be the same.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday June 05 2015, @02:23PM
"I think this new model will feature boobs." So - the R's are going to nominate a female? The D's are looking at a boob, but I'm not sure that it ever had boobs. I find it hard to believe how many people actually support that sleaze bag. That only proves that the D's are at least as stupid as the R's.