Experimental Aircraft to Go From Zero to 13,000 in Hypersonic Test Launch

[KRonn]

  

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/09/aircraft-set-to-shatter-speed-sound/?test=latestnews

Experimental Aircraft to Go From Zero to 13,000 in Hypersonic Test Launch

An unmanned aircraft that can travel at the breakneck speed of 20 times the speed of sound will take off Wednesday from an Air Force base in California for a test flight.

The Falcon HTV-2 is an arrow-shaped aircraft that launches on a rocket, separates and then glides at hypersonic speeds of 13,000 mph through the Earth's atmosphere. (To put it in perspective, it would take less than 12 minutes to fly from New York to Los Angeles.)

Wednesday's launch marks the aircraft's second flight. In April 2010, the Falcon flew for nine minutes, including 130 seconds of Mach 22 to Mach 17 flight, according to DARPA, the military's research arm.

The goal of the second flight is to "validate our assumptions and gain further insight into extremely high Mach regimes that we cannot fully replicate on the ground," Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz said in a DARPA news release.

Since the first launch in April, engineers have made several tweaks to the vehicle to improve its performance. They have adjusted the vehicle's center of gravity, decreased the angle of attack flown and will use the onboard reaction control system to augment the vehicle flaps to maintain stability during flight operations, DARPA said.

The flight overview looks something like a rocket launch. The aircraft takes off in a rocket and eventually breaks free. It re-enters the Earth's upper atmosphere before evening out, like a jet in flight.

After a brief flight, the aircraft takes a nose dive into the sea near Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. In all, the Falcon HTV-2 will have flown 4,000 miles from its original take off at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

"The first flight of HTV-2 allowed DARPA to greatly increase our understanding of the hypersonic environments encountered by the vehicle," said Col. Kent Nickle, Chief of SMC/SD's Launch Systems Division and HTV-2 Flight 2 Mission Director, in a statement.

"The entire team is looking forward to yet another successful flight demonstration for our DARPA partners."

The goal of the project is to eventually enable the U.S. military to strike anywhere in the world in less than an hour.

[Ideologue]

I approve.  This is a first step to a fractional orbital bombardment system that could return the important role of nuking things to the USAF.

[MadImmortalMan]

More like 0 to gone. 

[Siege]

What happened? Did it blow up?

[MadImmortalMan]

What happened? Did it blow up?

Lost contact. It's in the drink.

[Caliga]

What happened?

[Slargos]

What happened?

[Caliga]

For some reason I find the chick with the ivory skin and white hair really HOTT.

[Ideologue]

For some reason I find the chick with the ivory skin and white hair really HOTT.

She seems less bountiful than I would expect from you.  It's like I suddenly slavered over a woman who had hips that would permit normal childbirth.

[Neil]

USAF?  More like USAFail.

[Syt]

What happened? Did it blow up?

Lost contact. It's in the drink.

It crossed the Threshold.

[Brazen]

Wrote about this yesterday. It was actually Falcon's second flight, the first one ditched early in the ocean too. Forget all that bollocks about pushing forward hypersonic flight, the subtext of "The ultimate goal for the programme is to be able to flight to anywhere in the world in less than an hour" is the US can bomb China from home in less than an hour.

[Caliga]

She seems less bountiful than I would expect from you.  It's like I suddenly slavered over a woman who had hips that would permit normal childbirth.

I know... it's fucked up, isn't it?

[Josquius]

What happened? Did it blow up?

It opened a hyperspace portal.

[Brazen]

From DARPA:

*
      DARPA HYPERSONIC VEHICLE ADVANCES TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE

      August 11, 2011

      HTV-2 collects unique data during several phases of second flight

      Today, DARPA attempted to fly the fastest aircraft ever built.  The Agency's Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) is designed to fly anywhere in the world in less than 60 minutes.  This capability requires an aircraft that can fly at 13,000 mph, while experiencing temperatures in excess of 3500F.  The second test flight began with launch at 0745 Pacific Time.  The Minotaur IV vehicle successfully inserted the aircraft into the desired trajectory.  Separation of the vehicle was confirmed by rocket cam and the aircraft transitioned to Mach 20 aerodynamic flight.  This transition represents a critical knowledge and control point in maneuvering atmospheric hypersonic flight.  More than nine minutes of data was collected before an anomaly caused loss of signal.  Initial indications are that the aircraft impacted the Pacific Ocean along the planned flight path.

      "Here's what we know," said Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz, DARPA HTV-2 program manager and PhD in aerospace engineering.  "We know how to boost the aircraft to near space.  We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight.  We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight.  It's vexing; I'm confident there is a solution. We have to find it."

      "Prior to flight, the technical team completed the most sophisticated simulations and extensive wind tunnel tests possible.  But these ground tests have not yielded the necessary knowledge.  Filling the gaps in our understanding of hypersonic flight in this demanding regime requires that we be willing to fly," said DARPA Director Regina Dugan. "In the April 2010 test, we obtained four times the amount of data previously available at these speeds.  Today more than 20 air, land, sea and space data collection systems were operational.  We'll learn. We'll try again. That's what it takes."

      According to Schulz, three technical challenges exist within this HTV-2 flight regime.  They are categorized as aerodynamic; aerothermal; and guidance, navigation and control.  And each phase of flight introduces unique obstacles within these areas.

      "To address these obstacles, DARPA has assembled a team of experts that will analyze the flight data collected during today's test flight, expanding our technical understanding of this incredibly harsh flight regime," explained Schulz.  "As today's flight indicates, high-Mach flight in the atmosphere is virtually uncharted territory. "

      In the coming weeks, the assembled independent Engineering Review Board will review and analyze the data collected. This data will inform policy, acquisition and operational decisions for future Conventional Prompt Global Strike programs—the goal of which, ultimately, is to have the capability to reach anywhere in the world in less than one hour.

About the same time into flight that the last one ditched, but that was deliberate after recording something had gone wrong.

You may now go back to sci fi speculation, which is far more fun.