Posted on 08/11/2011 10:28:53 AM PDT by Red Badger
An unmanned hypersonic glider developed for U.S. defense research into super-fast global strike capability was launched atop a rocket early Thursday but contact was lost after the experimental craft began flying on its own, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency said.
There was no immediate information on how much of the mission's goals were achieved.
It was the second of two planned flights of a Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2. Contact was also lost during the first mission.
The small craft is part of a U.S. military initiative to develop technology to respond to threats at 20 times the speed of sound or greater, reaching any part of the globe in an hour.
The HTV-2 is designed to be launched to the edge of space, separate from its booster and maneuver through the atmosphere at 13,000 mph before intentionally crashing into the ocean.
DARPA used Twitter to announce the launch and status of the flight.
The agency said the launch of the Minotaur 4 rocket was successful and separation was confirmed. It next reported that telemetry had been lost.
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Ludicrous Speed!
This is just the beginning... Someday Skynet may become self aware and destroy its creators and all who remain...
I believe the Astronaut’s name was Crichton, John Crichton.
LOL!
We gave the United States to the Chinese... or at least they own us now... why not a plane? Well, there’s easier ways to give them a plane...
Yeah, right. I heard they missed Mars once too. Something about forgetting to convert from metric units.
That's the joy of dealing with sheeple - it really doesn't matter what you say.
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