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Scramjet Finally Tested at Mach 10

by June 18, 2007
Scramjet tested by US and Australia

Scramjet tested by US and Australia

Reuters reported that an experimental scramjet engine was successfully tested in a joint effort between the US and Australia defense scientists. It attained speeds of up to 6,835 miles (11,000 km) per hour, or 10 times the speed of sound, during trials in Australia's outback, defense scientists said on Friday. Since this is Audioholics, we thought our readers might be interested in other technologies that make use of sound... or at least some that break the speed of sound...

The scramjet is an experimental engine which has a supersonic combustion engine that takes in air at supersonic (faster than the speed of sound) speeds and outputs exhaust through a nozzle at even higher speeds (causing propulsion). They must operate in thin atmosphere, above the altitudes attained by commercial jetliners. This particular technology is being developed by Australian and U.S. defense scientists who hope this will lead to super-high speed flight.

Since scramjets require supersonic speeds in order to function, scientists from Australia's defense Science and Technology Organization and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) used a conventional rocket to launch the scramjet high above the Woomera test site. The scramjet engine was then activated as it reached speeds of Mach 10.

"All the indications are it was a success, and we have some very happy scientists," an Australian defense spokesman told Reuters on Friday.

Flight data will be examined over coming weeks and compared to ground tests conducted in the United States, DARPA chief researcher Steven Walker said in a statement.

"We are pleased with this joint effort between the U.S. and Australia and believe that a hypersonic airplane could be a reality in the not too distant future," Walker said.

The technology is mostly expected to be used for defense, though some scientists are hoping the commercial applications will eventually be possible and reusable hybrid systems will one day be realized.

sploo posts on June 25, 2007 17:23
furrycute, post: 278863
Can a pilot withstand the G forces while accelerating to mach 10?

Depends how quickly he's accelerating

Seriously… 11km/h is 3055 m/s, so accelerating at 5G (5x9.81m/s^2), it would take just over a minute to hit full speed (assuming, incorrectly of course, starting at 0km/h). Not pleasant, but I'd expect top pilots could handle that.

Now, the kind of G forces generated if you actually tried to turn sharply at that speed…
furrycute posts on June 25, 2007 16:35
Can a pilot withstand the G forces while accelerating to mach 10?
davo posts on June 18, 2007 18:50
Thats an interesting article, thanks for including it. My father was part of the construction team that built the Woomera test facilities, he has some old photo's of the site as it was been built. I wonder if they would be classified?

But the commercial application would be very useful to a keen audioholic who needed a cheap a/v receiver from the US and be back in Australia before lunch.

Can they have it ready by August?
mtrycrafts posts on June 18, 2007 17:01
admin, post: 276784
Reuters reported that an experimental scramjet engine was successfully tested in a joint effort between the US and Australia defense scientists. It attained speeds of up to6,835 miles (11,000 km) per hour , or 10 times the speed of sound, during trials in Australia's outback, defense scientists said on Friday. Since this is Audioholics, we thought our readers might be interested in other technologies that make use of sound… or at least some that break the speed of sound…


Discuss “Scramjet Finally Tested at Mach 10” here. Read the article.

Interesting article, thanks. Some are interested, I am sure, me for one.
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Clint Deboer was terminated from Audioholics for misconduct on April 4th, 2014. He no longer represents Audioholics in any fashion.

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