Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Jun 26, 2019 17:39:07 GMT 2
(.#221).- The fastest plane in the world will fly at Mach 20 tonight.
The fastest plane in the world will fly at Mach 20 tonight.
Rémy Decourt
Journalist
After a delay yesterday, the United States is preparing to test tonight the Falcon HTV-2, a hypersonic machine capable of flying at Mach 20. What to reach Los Angeles from New York in just 12 minutes.
Computer simulations and wind tunnel tests do not allow testing beyond Mach 15, the Darpa decided to develop a demonstrator, the HTV (here an artist's view). Although it resulted in the loss of the craft, the first test flight in 2010 convinced the Darpa to continue on this path, hence this second test. © Darpa.
More than two years after a first test flight, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) is preparing the launch of a second Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV) that is scheduled to fly hypersonic from Vandenberg, CA. . This machine that does not take off like a plane is launched by a rocket Minotaur IV of Orbital Sciences, which must bring it on a supersonic trajectory. The machine then accelerates to Mach 20, more than 20,000 kilometers per hour! The flight was scheduled to take place last night but was postponed to today due to weather conditions. The launch can be followed on Darpa's Twitter feed.
The aim of this Darpa program is to test the technologies needed at hypersonic speeds, such as thermal protection, aerodynamic shapes, handling, long-distance communication and reusability.
The Minotaur IV launcher with the Falcon HTV-2 demonstrator built by Lockheed Martin for the Dapra. Compared to the first model, the machine that takes off tonight has a different center of gravity, a reduced angle of attack and small propeller to help control its trajectory. If the flight goes well, the Falcon HTV-2 is expected to spill into the Pacific Ocean (controlled path) near the Ronald Reagan ballistic test site in the Marshall Islands. © Darpa
Anywhere in less than two hours
With this program, the United States wants to have a device capable of connecting anywhere in the world in less than two hours to meet a military need for rapid response (Prompt Global Strike). Like the X-37B space drone, whose second model is still in orbit, the Falcon HTV is part of the concept of space dominance that has taken precedence over that of air control, considered acquired by US officials.
Finally, we recall the feat of the X-51 Waverider which, in June 2010, flew 200 seconds at hypersonic speed, the record of the genre, at more than 21 kilometers of altitude using its hot propulsion system atmospheric oxygen, avoiding taking this oxidizer into a tank.
However, mastering these technologies is not an easy task. Speeds of the order of Mach 20 impose materials designed to withstand temperatures of about 2,000 ° C but also particular flight controls.
F I N .
The fastest plane in the world will fly at Mach 20 tonight.
Rémy Decourt
Journalist
After a delay yesterday, the United States is preparing to test tonight the Falcon HTV-2, a hypersonic machine capable of flying at Mach 20. What to reach Los Angeles from New York in just 12 minutes.
Computer simulations and wind tunnel tests do not allow testing beyond Mach 15, the Darpa decided to develop a demonstrator, the HTV (here an artist's view). Although it resulted in the loss of the craft, the first test flight in 2010 convinced the Darpa to continue on this path, hence this second test. © Darpa.
More than two years after a first test flight, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) is preparing the launch of a second Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV) that is scheduled to fly hypersonic from Vandenberg, CA. . This machine that does not take off like a plane is launched by a rocket Minotaur IV of Orbital Sciences, which must bring it on a supersonic trajectory. The machine then accelerates to Mach 20, more than 20,000 kilometers per hour! The flight was scheduled to take place last night but was postponed to today due to weather conditions. The launch can be followed on Darpa's Twitter feed.
The aim of this Darpa program is to test the technologies needed at hypersonic speeds, such as thermal protection, aerodynamic shapes, handling, long-distance communication and reusability.
The Minotaur IV launcher with the Falcon HTV-2 demonstrator built by Lockheed Martin for the Dapra. Compared to the first model, the machine that takes off tonight has a different center of gravity, a reduced angle of attack and small propeller to help control its trajectory. If the flight goes well, the Falcon HTV-2 is expected to spill into the Pacific Ocean (controlled path) near the Ronald Reagan ballistic test site in the Marshall Islands. © Darpa
Anywhere in less than two hours
With this program, the United States wants to have a device capable of connecting anywhere in the world in less than two hours to meet a military need for rapid response (Prompt Global Strike). Like the X-37B space drone, whose second model is still in orbit, the Falcon HTV is part of the concept of space dominance that has taken precedence over that of air control, considered acquired by US officials.
Finally, we recall the feat of the X-51 Waverider which, in June 2010, flew 200 seconds at hypersonic speed, the record of the genre, at more than 21 kilometers of altitude using its hot propulsion system atmospheric oxygen, avoiding taking this oxidizer into a tank.
However, mastering these technologies is not an easy task. Speeds of the order of Mach 20 impose materials designed to withstand temperatures of about 2,000 ° C but also particular flight controls.
F I N .
