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Test flight of X-43A makes Guinness World Records Near 7,000 mph run new speed mark for jet-powered craft By Jim Skeen, Staff Writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE -- NASA's unmanned X-43A aircraft will get a new listing in Guinness World Records for its test flight that hit nearly 7,000 mph, a world speed record for a jet-powered aircraft. The 2006 records book due out in September will recognize the 12-foot-long, computer-guided craft for the Nov. 16 flight in which it hit Mach 9.6 over the Pacific Ocean. Carried to 109,000 feet by a Pegasus rocket launched from beneath a B-52...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - An unmanned NASA jet was launched over the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday in a bid to demonstrate a radical new engine technology by flying at a world-record 7,000 mph - almost 10 times the speed of sound. The 12-foot-long X-43A "scramjet" was carried aloft under the wing of a B-52 aircraft and released over a test range off the Southern California coast. It was to fly under its own power at Mach 10 for about 10 seconds at 110,000 feet, then glide to a splash landing. The craft was designed to sink and will not be...

Nasa flew an unmanned experimental jet on Tuesday to a speed that was in excess of nine times the speed of sound - a world record. The X-43A - a supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) - was released on its test run from beneath a bomber's wing. The 3.7m-long aircraft had already set a world best for an "air breathing" jet of Mach 6.83 - nearly seven times the speed of sound - on a flight in March. Preliminary data confirming the success came through in real-time. Mach 10 is roughly 12,000km/h or 7,400mph. "This flight is a key milestone and...

LOS ANGELES - In March, NASA (news - web sites) launched an experimental jet that reached a record-setting speed of about 5,000 mph. Now researchers want to leave that milestone in the dust. NASA's third and last X-43A "scramjet" was set to streak over the Pacific Ocean on Monday at 7,000 mph for 10 or 11 seconds — or 10 times the speed of sound. The first X-43A flight failed in June 2001 when the booster rocket used to accelerate it to flight speed veered off course and had to be destroyed. The second flight in March was a success,...

EDWARDS AFB - Already holding the world speed record for an air-breathing engine, NASA's X-43A hypersonic research aircraft will aim to top itself with a flight to nearly 10 times the speed of sound next week. The unmanned aircraft's record-setting March flight to Mach 7 - about 5,000 mph - was the first flight test of a supersonic combustion ramjet - or scramjet - engine integrated with an airframe. "We set one (world record) in March, and we're going to do it again next week," said Vince Rauch, Hyper-X program manager at NASA's Langley Flight Research Center in Virginia. The...

EDWARDS AFB - NASA aeronautics researchers are looking forward to flying the X-43A research aircraft at speeds up to 10 times the speed of sound later this fall, following a successful "captive carry" dress rehearsal flight from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Monday. According to X-43A lead operations engineer David McAllister, who served as test director for the mission, the captive carry flight duplicated all operational functions of the planned 7,000-mph - or Mach 10 - flight and served as a training exercise for staff, except that the X-43A and its modified Pegasus booster were not released from NASA's...

EDWARDS, CALIFORNIA -- Engineers here are on the fast-track, readying the next flight of NASA’s X-43A, a super-sleek, high-speed craft powered by a scramjet engine.

A revolutionary jet engine flew faster than seven times the speed of sound in a high altitude test over the Pacific on Saturday, marking what NASA (news - web sites) scientists hailed as a milestone in developing the "Holy Grail" of space travel. "It's been an outstanding, record-breaking day," lead propulsion engineer Lawrence Huebner told a post-flight briefing. NASA's 12-foot-long X-43A research vehicle -- resembling a winged surfboard -- hit slightly over Mach 7, about 5,000 mph, during 11 seconds of powered flight before gliding at hypersonic speeds for several minutes and finally plunging into the ocean. The test, conducted...

EDWARDS AFB - An experimental aircraft from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center made aviation history Saturday when the unmanned X-43A hypersonic vehicle became the first non-rocket, air-breathing aircraft to fly more than seven times the speed of sound. "Today was a grand slam at the bottom of the 12th," X-43A project manager Joel Sitz said. The successful flight was met with cheers in the Dryden control room and from those gathered to witness the historic event. Nearly three years ago, the first attempted flight of the X-43A ended in failure when the rocket booster went out of control. "I think...

Three years after its first test flight ended in an explosion, NASA on Saturday successfully launched an experimental jet designed to reach speeds approaching 5,000 mph. The unpiloted X-43A made a 10-second powered flight, then went through some twists and turns during a six-minute glide before plunging into the Pacific Ocean about 400 miles off the California coast. "Everything worked according to plan. It's been wonderful," NASA spokeswoman Leslie Williams said. "I actually thought it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. We've been waiting a few years." It wasn't immediately clear what speed the needle-nosed jet achieved after...

Scramjet is a success!

The US space agency will attempt to fly its experimental hypersonic research aircraft, the X-43A, this Saturday. The unpiloted 3.7m-long vehicle uses a scramjet to reach a design speed in excess of Mach 7, more than 8,000 km/h (5,000 mph). Scramjets burn hydrogen but take their oxygen from the air which is forced into the engine at very high speed. It is hoped this technology could one day dramatically reduce the length of long-haul passenger flights and make it much cheaper to launch space payloads. Nasa will just want its latest experiment to complete its goals without incident. The first...

EDWARDS AFB - More than two years after their first unsuccessful attempt, NASA researchers are preparing for a record-setting flight of an air-breathing hypersonic scramjet vehicle. The unmanned X-43A research vehicle is scheduled for a one-time flight Saturday. If successful, its engine will be the first air breather to operate at Mach 7, seven times the speed of sound. "It's taken us 2½ years to get back to this point," said Vincent Rausch , Hyper-X program manager . "What we're talking about this Saturday is an aviation first, an air-breathing engine capable of Mach 7." The X-43A is a small,...

WASHINGTON, March 17 (AFP) - NASA (news - web sites) announced plans to launch a supersonic drone later this month designed to fly 6,000 miles (10,000 km) per hour, nearly three times the standing jet airspeed record. The X-43A prototype, to be launched at Edwards Air Force Base in California on March 27, supercedes one that crashed in 2001 tests. NASA said the flight could break the speed record for a jet engine and provide greater access to space. The current airspeed record, 3,529 kilometers (2,193 miles) per hour, or Mach 3.2, has been held by the SR-71 "Blackbird" spy...

The NASA X-43A hypersonic research vehicle successfully met a milestone on its road to a historic launch to test supersonic combustion ramjet technology, also known as a scramjet. The research vehicle and its Pegasus booster rocket were carried aloft Monday beneath the wing of NASA's B-52 workhorse for a dress rehearsal of the launch mission. After taking off from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at 3:31 p.m., the B-52 headed for the restricted airspace of the Pacific Missile Test Range off the California coast. The mother ship returned safely to Dryden about two hours later, the research vehicle and booster...