- A tiny unmanned Nasa "scramjet" set a new world
speed record after flying at nearly 10 times the speed of sound.
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- The 12ft supersonic combustion ramjet flew at just under
7,000mph - or around Mach 9.6.
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- The X-43A jet, which uses radical new engine technology,
flew the record flight above the Pacific Ocean.
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- Unlike conventional jet engines which use rotating fan
blades to compress air for combustion, the X-43A has no rotating engine
parts.
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- Instead it uses the underside of the aircraft's forebody
to "scoop" up and compress air for mixing with hydrogen fuel.
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- The aircraft flew under its own power for about 10 seconds
after separating from a booster rocket at 111,000ft, then made a splash
landing about 800 miles offshore.
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- Analysis of data to determine the exact performance will
take several months, but mission officials were jubilant.
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- Vince Rausch, from Nasa's research centre in Virginia,
said: "Once again we made aviation history. We did that in March when
we went seven times the speed of sound and now we've done it right around
10 times the speed of sound."
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- The flight was the last in a $230 million-plus effort
to test technology most likely to be initially used in military aircraft,
such as a bomber that could reach any target on Earth within two hours
of takeoff from the United States.
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- Like its predecessors, the first of which was destroyed
when it veered off course and the second which reached Mach 6.83, the X-43A
will not be recovered from the ocean.
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- Scramjets may also provide an alternative to rockets
for space launches.
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
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