Air Force's hypersonic test fails
By Mike Mount
A hypersonic aircraft launched by the Air Force Tuesday spiraled out of control and was destroyed before it could reach its goal of speeding to 4,600 mph, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.
The third test of the X-51A Waverider was launched Tuesday off the California coast from a B-52 modified bomber aircraft and was to fly for 300 seconds, reaching hypersonic speeds of Mach 6, but only flew for 16 seconds, according to the Air Force.
Officials said a problem with a tail fin caused the missile-like vehicle to fly out of control before the main engine could be ignited, leading researchers to destroy it early.
"A fault was identified with one of the cruiser control fins. Once the X-51 separated from the rocket booster, approximately 15 seconds later, the cruiser was not able to maintain control due to the faulty control fin and was lost," said a statement issued by the Air Force.
It's unclear what, if any, information was gleaned from the test. According to the statement, "Program officials will now begin the process of working through a rigorous evaluation to determine the exact cause of all factors at play."
The Air Force plans to go public with details of the failed test in a few weeks, after researchers are able to analyze the data from the flight.
The world's record-breaking airports
"It is unfortunate that a problem with this subsystem caused a termination before we could light the Scramjet engine," said Charlie Brink, X-51A Program Manager for Air Force Research Laboratory. "All our data showed we had created the right conditions for engine ignition and we were very hopeful to meet our test objectives."
The Air Force had four X-51A Waveriders and has tested three. Officials said they do not yet know when or if the fourth Waverider will be tested.
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D@mn Chinese electronics!!!
It would be nice if we could invest more in projects like this to make them successful. This keeps engineers, accountants, mechanics, etc all employed and has a possible great benefit to society. Instead we spend money on drug addicts, pregnant teens, diseased humans, and just losers in general who will never contribute anything to society. Amercia is trying to fight Darwin and is going to lose!
Actually the test was a success. The publc is being told it failed
And you know this how?
He's the x58-B... duh.
blah.. no edit button.. ah well. you get the gist.
No money for SOCIAL SECURITY but hey build another and send another robot to mars too
So, you'd rather take this money away from these people who are working building something and give it to people who are retired doing nothing?
Oops, now how are you going to fund the unemployment for all those people?
So we're supposed to quit learning and abandon the sciences so you can sit on your ass and collect welfare? America is getting weaker by the day!
Wow...shut up about SOCIAL SECURITY. If you depend on that you have failed...it is not an investment, it is a tax. I would rather pay wage earners to work on a project like this and then respend their earnings in the economy than hand it over to failures.
your Mother and Father collect Social Security so watch what you are saying about them....
Star Trek's top speed was Warp 10 and we're already up to Warp 8!
You're not even close. Warp and Mach aren't even in the same ball park.....
So we're faster than Star Trek?
That was at the speed of light was it not, this is at the speed of sound
Actually, warp speed is faster than the speed of light (warping of space and time)
So what did this failure cost the US taxpayers? The article failed to mention that fact.
170 million according to the lead up articles.
There's been plenty of failures in science and technology including the very internets that allows you to spew your ignorance. You're an imbecil.
Just 125 million.
So what? scientific tests failed or successful are the way we do researches. Our living conditions are always getting better and better with the successful scientific tests.
why has everyone become so hostile towards science and technological research and development. It employs thousands and things learned from these "failures" have lead to some of the greatest inventions of our time. It's in our best interest to help fund projects like these.
All great successes have their way's paved in failure.
the actual numbers will probably never be known to us, but what people fail to see is that literally ALL of that money was spent paying American companies with American employees to engineer technology that will help us stay on the leading edge creating more trickle down technologies that you can count, and the beauty of bleeding edge technology is that it can't just be stolen or reproduced, you actually have to know what you are doing which puts us in a position to sell said technology and bring in even more money for the US economy. Please go back to the dark ages where you are comfortable.
YEAH LETS WAIT BEFORE WE TRY SOMETHING. HEY DIPS $ HITS THATS HOW YOU FALL BEHIND. YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO PRESS FORWARD WITH NEW THINGS. I LIKE HOW M O R O N S OUT THERE BLAME THE PRESIDENT. SO MANY STUPID PEOPLE IN THE US ANYMORE, SO SAD!!!!
This is not moving "ahead" for positive gain. Creating a jet or rocket to get a missile somewhere Nx faster is a sheer waste of money. The world has more important things to invest in than finding more effective ways to keep destroying eachother. We, humans, are the only species that destroy (kill) eachother for financial gain. All other animal species adapt to nature and have been doing it for millions of year, we humans keep destroying it.
Some people dare say that we humans are evolving. No, our technology is evolving, but as humans as a species are DEVOLVING. As an overall compared to 50 yrs ago, we are fatter, lazier, dumber and killing the very environment around us that supports our live. Generally speaking, humans have a sheer lack of respect for all life (all life, not just human life).
Back the failure here, the cost $$$ of this failure was never mentioned. Interesting...
You did not follow the news on this subject, didn't you? This test is so critical for the future development of super sonic jets that could help regular passengers like you and me to shorten the trip several hours compared to the current jets.
It's sad to see people have a narrow vision of what this type of technology can do.
The infromation gleaned from the test IS.........actuate your controle surfaces BEFORE you fly...The SPACE SHUTTLE DID ....You tto make sure they....work....THE MILITARY....YAHOOOO
Something may have dislodged on take off, or their digital gyro's went hay wire in flight. Either way they need to re-examine their control systems to ensure this does not happen again. I would not be surprised if one of the ground crews did not tighten the bolts properly.
...my farts break the sound barrier all the time! PFFFTTT!!!!
Would rather have these tested and working rather than a bunch of useless non working people. Maybe we should dump them in the ocean...
My guess is that we have hypersonic aircraft out there right now running missions – this test was either an attempt at misdirection or a success at capturing a specific datapoint that would never be made public...at least not for another 30 years...
I remember all the failures we had with the early space program. With each failure, we learn a bit more.
Your right, we are 100 of years ahead of this technology.Google project Aurora and the TR-3B. The Air Force and NASA are fronts for the real black projects that are being done out in the desert and other places. They will never disclose those technologies and where they come from. The government is spending billions of dollars and will keep it quiet at any cost. It unfortunate that those technologies arent being used to further mankind, but for the time being they are war machines, and thats all. 🙂
Wow, half the people here think this is a waste of money because we don't need the technology, and another half think it's a waste of money because we ALREADY HAVE the technology.
Boy, more tin foil hats and morons on this board than CNN.
Cutting the time in half for air travel does not provide any benefits then what does? What current passenger jets that the world have traveling with this kind of speed? Both arguments are senseless.
Let's see, the estimated cost of the program: 89 million pounds or around 140 million U.S. dollars. The College Board reports that a "moderate" college budget for an in-state public college for the 2011–2012 academic year averaged $21,447/year. O.K. 88,000 for a 4-year degree on average. If math is correct, 1,590 students in the U.S. could get a free college education for the cost of the Waverider program. That comes to 32 students from each state in the U.S. getting a free college education. And oh, if the free program were classified, we wouldn't have to hear any badgering from the right or the left. All would just take it and shut up like everyone does currently. Oh, how would the beneficiaries of the free education be picked. Not on meritocracy or any other hoax based really on social capital. It would be done by lottery. Purely objective.
Too many graduates right now, can not find a job..and you want more???
Over 2 trillion spent on war in since early 2000's, untold billions given to or stolen by greedy banks and schemers, lifetime benefits for congress after serving less than 20 years in federal service (how many kids a year could get scholarships?), Foreign aid to untrustworthy and incompatible countries that have yet to join the modern age of human respect and dignity. I think spending a few bucks on learning something useful isnt money wasted. Its really a drop in the bucket. – You can never unlearn knowledge-
Wrong the Knowledge you learn can quickly become outdated in today's world....As a former Analyst/ programmer for the DOD...I saw many engineers become obsolete because what they knew was obsolete...the systems they knew were obsolete...
You Know the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski went to Harvard, and James Holmes, the BATMAN theater mass killer, went to the Colorado School of Medicine, both were on full scholarships...
Right, free college educations for 1,500 kids based on a lottery. Because that will teach kids such a valuable lesson that no matter how hard you work, if you get lucky you can just go to college for free. I will take the military spending on secret projects that will keep our nation safe any day of the week. Giving 1,500 kids free college education in this economy will amount to nothing more than most of them being unsuccessful at landing jobs out of college and living in mom and dads basement playing Xbox 360. People who ask for handouts are usually last to provide any sort of self worth into the equation. And if your foolish enough to think that this project is a "failure" then you shouldn't even ben commenting on this post. Our government does not "fail", they just lead you to believe they do. Reason being why were at the top of the food chain.
Free college education is a waste. If they want to be educated, then they can f'in pay for it. What we need is programs like this for people to go to work for after they have graduated!!
How much did this boondoggle cost the long suffering American people? Why doesn't someone develope something useful like a Congressional fumigant?
Yes, please do... Use it on the treasonous Tea Party ones first... Signing oaths to "King" Grover Norquist is treason to the American people. The man publicly calls for the destruction of the Federal government... He should be charged with treason or sedition at the very least....
Invent one to stop insider trading of information, lobbyists with big pay offs, Billionaires that buy Congress...War Mongers that start wars....with other peoples kids lives...but avoid the draft themselves...Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Mitch McConnell was kicked out early.....What was Mitch doing in the barracks that got him kicked out of the military that night?..Was it a Sandusky???
I want the 1 billions+ dollars spend on the 212 presidential election to go to education not someones job.
Dale That is the truth...
The GOP and Rich say they can not pay higher taxes...then the rich give millions to buy the elections....Why not use limited public money for the elections, and tax the rich to rebuild the bridges...We have like 3,000 bridges that need to be repaired or replaced...
This is total propaganda. I just read about this thing yesterday and it has worked fine at speeds up to mach 8. They must be trying to convince us they need more money to fix their "broken" toy.
If you read the related articles on whatever website you read that on, you'd probably realize the lizard-men in control of the government need the money to build more black helicopters and mind control rays.
How SILLY Americans have become.
Instead of being sad this test failed and looking forward to the next test and the next until America succeeds, they complain about "how much it cost" and "how much money the taxpayers lost". Coudl this be teh cause of hateful speech from so called "conservatives" against averything that government AND ONLY GOVERNMENT CAN DO?
This is why America is going down – silly, uninformed electorate.
I can't wait to use it on some poor country.
Hey morons, this aircraft wasn't meant to be recovered. The air force said it would crash in the ocean. Umm, cnn did an article about it yesterday.
Hey idi0t the thing only lasted 0.53% of it's projected flight time. Then it was supposed to crash.
* correction 0.053%
*correction, 16/300 = 0.053 = 5.3%.
With a crippling deficit and a huge national debt the country can no longer afford pie in the sky schemes such as Waverider. Hundreds of millions of dollars were squandered on Waverider with no success. It can be argued that a new hypersonic weapons delivery system is unneeded anyway. That's what ICBM's have been doing for 50 plus years. With the country unsure of how to preserve existing programs like Social Security and Medicare that actually benefit Americans wasteful spending on concepts such as Waverider makes little or no sense. We should be fractionalizing military spending and terminating old agreements that require us to come to the defense of anyone other than ourselves.
Pllease...When Clinton had a chance to kill Bin Laden the only way was with Cruise Missiles,...and the flight time was about 3 hours....Would you launch at a guy in a tent and think he would still be there in 3 hours?...This Hyper speed missile could have done it in 15 minutes or less...
agree. No practical use for this stuff. Did the Concorde and SR71 back in the 60s. Woefully impractical and expensive for commercialization just to be "fast."
Also no practical use for the PC when first invented, or at least that's what people thought at the time.
Please tell us more....the SR71 could out run SAM's...We used it quite a bit....and you must not remember the early days of the Race to the Moon,...We had several bad launches...
The Concorde was a failure commercially thanks to OPEC jacking up the price of oil back in '73. The plane itself was tecnical marvel.
Thankfully you were not controlling the purse strings when the pie in the sky dream of flying with a jet engine was developed. I'm guessing there is no need to improve upon that technology. By that logic, we should have never moved beyond the sail. Maybe we should have stopped at the oar?
We have yet to see what other discoveries will come from the research and development of this aircraft/missile. The space program gave us the capability of developing most of the technology used today. Basic research is never "wasted money".
The money spent on programs like these actually employs people and supports the surrounding communities where parts of the projects take place. Its spent on billable manhours for machinists, and pilots, and secretaries, techs etc.. The local dunkin donuts benefits, towns that collect property taxes where these people live benefits, gas stations, local malls, and pizza joints all benefit.
The waverider didnt just fly off with a load of money in its belly to crash into the ocean with it. Look past your grasp to exceed your reach.
Unnecessary and foolish waste of resources.
If we did not do these technical ventures, then we would guilty of a uncessary and foolish waste of talent.
Science must continue!
The only reason the military would release "test results" of future technology – success or failure – is to spread misinformation. I'll bet you $10K something like this is already operational and they're probably already working on 2.0. Interesting to watch from this perspective though...
Wow- what fantastic insight! You happen to be wrong though.
They are testing this to develop a rapid-response vehicle to deploy US Marines (and other) to hostile hot spots in a hurry. Nothing like dropping Marines in within hours of some terrorist or dictator opening their big mouths and making threats against us....
Jeezum Craw...the US cannot even repeat with what it did with a human flying the X-15 rocket plaine in 1958!!! What a regression in knowledge shown by this silly country!
different technology Dilbert. Go back to your cube.
And your hypersonic vehicle is where?
Um, no reason to repeat a ROCKET plane test. We've got that technology. Google SCRAMJET and learn the difference before you spout off your ignorance.
why don't u cram a spamjet right up ur sphincter???
Wow, you can spell "sphincter", but you can't spell "you". I'm impressed and appalled all at once. Not really surprised, though. Keep digging yourself deeper.
Half the comments here are from people that think we've already flown this past before. lol. Get a clue before posting please. sheesh
This isnt a test of flying at that speed. The X-15 is a rocket. The test here is all about an engine design that can fly as fast as a rocket. 2 different technologies involved here. This is the next generation of flight technology. like the transition from propellers to jets
LOL did you read the article?
Your scramjet "spiraled out of control and was destroyed". That's what my turd does when I duke in an airplane.
Man, I gots de same problem wid my low rider Chebby the cruiser control fins fall off when I het the booster!!!
This time Mr. Bond will not thwart our attempt at world domination (Thunderball) !! BWAAHAAAHAAA
I know airplanes and sir that is no airplane. Can we say MISSILE???
this technology would eventually be used in manned and unmanned flights. Yes aircraft and missiles.
Boeing drops the ball....again
Boing... Boing... Boing...Just like a bouncing ball...
Is it just me, or does that thing look like it's held together with orange duct tape?
You are looking at the pod that holds it the missile is below that.
If it doesn't move when its supposed to use WD-40 and if it does move when it shouldn't use Duct Tape .Works every time. I carry both as an emergency fixer upper in my vehicles.. Never fails and worth every penny. No cost over runs either.
For all those who complain about money, and wasted resources. Let me plant this little seed in your brains. Worldwide travel, anytime you want, anywhere you want. Public space flights. What NASA, as well as the Air Force, does is try to make science fiction reality. And I cant wait for it to happen.
...And the airports are going to be able to handle traffic coming in that fast?? Going to have to upgrade that whole scenario before your jetliner cruises along at mach 6 or so.
this will be for now...military application only. not commercial
Good thing this negative nancy wasn't around for the Wright Brothers first flight.
Boy, if only a one half of one percent knew the basics of scramjet engineering you'd realize how its kept back by the lack of technological improvements in the current world. You have to fail, before you can succeed. Also doesn't help when you cut national defense budget when national defense is the PRIMARY role of the Feds.
Besides you realize with the ramjet the fuel must be injected, mixed, ignited, and burned within milliseconds.
Try doing that with your Prius.
The article never mentioned the cost of the hypersonic aircraft. Since it is only taxpayers money which fund this failure, the cost must not be important.
failure is the source of learning. we cannot achieve without it. How many things would we have accomplished if we thought like you?
Each test is $140M.
Previous articles from CNN state that the missile has an approximate cost of $300 million. So that means basically this test costed every single person in the US a dollar.
Now we shall never stop the Iranians....
The Iranians really want peace all they really want is for Israel to give back the land to the Arabs and then disappear from the face of the earth.
the most interesting thing about this is that people believe they are testing a new 'flight system' that may one day be used in aviation. the item is obviously a warhead delivery system.
Exactly, it is a development of a hypersonic missile with global reach. The vehicle technology will follow, but the missile is the main goal for now.
It's like Hope Solo said about the women's soccer team: "It's only news if we fail."
Silly humans. This is technology they got from our race back in the 40's and have been using it for years. It's just time to bring it into the "mainstream" and make it look like they're still developing it. Like velcro............
I'm still waiting for my jetpack.
yeah where's my hoverboard mcfly?
I've had my JetPack for years. What are you waiting for.
Duct tape and JB Weld. Do I have have to teach these people everything?
Oh well. Mitt Happens.
You just knew some A Hole would politicize this.
O'mama will save the day. After he gets finished blaming Bush..
Maybe if someone on the team had sported a mohawk, things would have gone better. Just sayin.
Where is Steve Austin when you really need him?
Might as well launch $1000 bills on bottle rockets and watch them zoom into "low orbit" and explode. Probably cheaper, more entertaining, and we can gather test data on whether it burns any better than a $20 or the newspaper... Makes me sad to say I'm a US trained engineer...
You obviously weren't an engineer on this particular equipment. And thank God for that.
I'm all for new technology. But this was failure of the most basic of missile technology....and at very low speed. This was not a "test" failure where there is some unknown like the forces of going Mach 6. It was a lack of proper engineering design and testing prior to launch of a simple part. A combination of poor engineering design, poor craftsmanship, and poor quality control during inspection is the root cause and there is no real justifiable excuse for such incompetence when the project has a huge budget and near unlimited resources of expertise.
A few months ago, President Obama stressed the importance of preparing our kids for the 21st century and assuring them all the tools and resources they need to get a good education and get ahead. Then he campaigned to lower interest rate on tuition. However, Rick Santurum responded with such scorn and contempt, calling the President a snub and arguing that the President was trying to shove an education down people's throat. However, I believe our kids are trailing those in most industrial nations in math and science because we don't take their future seriously enough and if we don't get more serious about our kids future, scientific innovations like this would be impossible. Likewise, there are alot of manufacturing jobs available all across America but not enough skilled workers to fill these positions. I say let's invest more in our kids future and give them the opportunity to ecxell. And kudos to these scientists and all those committed to America's innovative spirit.
I couldnt agree more. But remember most of those guys want a lower uneducated class of people to rule over. Much easier to control. Just feed them paranoia and fear and they are contained.
Why do we need a jet to go this fast again?
Again why would we want to go any slower?
Building hypersonic atmospheric weapons and transport systems is as stupid and wasteful as using an Enzo Ferrari to deliver the mail in North Dakota.
So we can keep up the threat of not being able to be stopped from nuking anyone whenever we want.
So that we can deliver Cruise Missles anywhere in the world in just a few hours.
Less cynically, if the tech is successful, it would make the precursor tech obsolete for military purposes, which usually means opening it up to the private sector.
"We choose to do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard. If it were up to many of these commenters, we would have never sailed across the atlantic, broken the sound barrier, or even reached the moon. Setbacks are a part of testing, you learn, make adjustments, and try again... you do not say oh well and give up."
Maybe the ability to do something is not the criteria for doing it.
Family values and close knit communities get sacrificed in the name of progress.
I like computers, cars, planes, etc. but I'd be perfectly willing to back to the 'old' days
if that's what we'd have to do to get the old values back.
You know...when we could say
"One nation under God"
without apologizing to the ACLU.
In those days "under God" was not part of the Pledge...
Explain god????
Well said Coop...
The good old days sucked. Cancer was a death sentence, rotary phones, no where near the access to information we have today- and as for values- racism? mysoginy? violent crime? All were worse 'in the good old days' people just swept it under the rug and didn't talk about it.
IMO just bring back slavery, those were the good ol days.
The cost to fabricate the actual aircraft relative to the cost of executing such tests has to be so small as to justify actually carrying a redundant second test vehicle in the event of an apparently non-systemic failure of the primary vehicle.
I guess London to New York in infinity.... hahahahhaa
Oops ther goes another rubber tree plant.Oh well, it's just a few billion dollars.We can always just print more 😉
Rather spend it on this rather then teenage parents and addicts who can't keep their legs closed..........
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I think your NOOOOOO went farther than this test flight.
We landed the thig a ma jiggy on mars the other day with out a problem, we will get this hypersonic aircraft thing done soon, give the US military scientists and engineers a break they are soldiers just like the soldiers in the field, also you better hope the USA stays the USA, if America ever goes away it's the end of the world as we know it.
"if America ever goes away it's the end of the world as we know it."
Since the world we know has an America, that isn't exactly a secret.
It's not a secret to people who know how important the USA is, if we ever ultimatly fail, (go away forever) the world will never be the same again !!!
I'm old enough to recall repeated failures on the launch pad of an early us rocket called the vanguard. However... we did eventually make it to the moon and back ok.
"It's unclear what, if any, information was gleaned from the test." It seems pretty clear to me. They need better control and a tail fin that is not faulty.
How much money has been spent on this project, and what really would it accomplish had it succeeded?
This program is extremely important. It has the potential to not only revolutionize aerial combat, but it has huge implications for aerospace as well. Scramjet engine technology could mean the difference of for example, a few months to get to mars or a few days.
a scramjet is an air breathing engine. not gonna get you to mars... or even out of the atmosphere. but yeah, it'll get you anywhere on earth pretty darn fast.
Not sure that anyone knows the exact cost, but what alarms me more is "and what really would it accomplish had it succeeded?". Pushing the envelope of any technology has consistently resulted in unprecedented findings when allowed to succeed. What would the world be like if Jack Kilby hadn't wanted to invest millions in making the first integrated circuit. What would we know of space, our solar system, future threats from not other nations, but other galactic forces, had we not gone to the moon, invested in the space station, or Hubble. The true fruits of labor with regards to pioneering new technologies is the trickle down that we get from the knowledge obtained on the "ridiculous" investments. But with all that aside, the thing that people seem to have the hardest time grasping is that this "tax payer money" that we are "wasting" is being invested in... wait for it.... American companies employing American workers. We are not creating a rocket that runs on currency and then blows up pure gold, we are paying Americans a decent wage to develop technology that helps us in thousands of ways, even if we can't possibly know them all now. /rant.
I bet your mom said the same thing about the space program back in the 50's. Ask her if I'm right...using your GPS-enabled cellphone.
i am surprised by peoples response to this as if "north korea is laughing at us", or "spend our tax dollars wisely".
1 ) mach 6 flight has a stress beyond simply putting alan shepard into space... this is atmospheric propulsion to 4600 mph... not going to be easy, but the benefit to figuring it out will be a massive money saver in the long run.
which brings me to...
2) waste of money – this is a drop in the bucket to the real wasteful spending on an over extended and stressed military along with amazing tax breaks for both corporations and wealthy individuals.
i run my own business – am lower middle class, and would still pay a bit more to fund scientific research – 86 corrupt tax loopholes and allow my fellow americans to have adequate health care.
Thanks for your comment. You're right on... Some of these posters just don't get it and apparently despise their fellow Americans to no end....
Why does everyone continue insisting that raising taxes on the rich will raise huge amounts of money and bring us out of this economic slump? Closing all existing loopholes for corporations and individuals would not even bring in an extra $50 billion a year....look it up...
Send in the Mohawk Guy to fix the issues
oh look, how cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the american government is calling what is clearly a missile test an aircraft test. guess the koreans oughta do the same thing.
You make a very good point. This is nothing but a new type cruise missile .
They are testing this to develop a rapid-response vehicle to deploy US Marines (and other) to hostile hot spots in a hurry. Nothing like dropping Marines in within hours of some terrorist or dictator opening their big mouths and making threats against us....
SUCKERS!
HA HA HA HA HA HA
"X-43 is the fastest airplane in the world. On 16 November 2004, the X-43 reached Mach 9.6 (7,000 miles or 11,265 kilometers per hour) according to NASA. The X-43 is an unmanned aircraft, which launches not from the ground but from a B-52 at about 40,000 feet (12.2 kilometers) in the air. "
That one flew at higher elevations. The one they have created now flies at lower elevations? not sure
Complete morons. We got the airplane right on the first try.
The new SCRAMjet technology is not what failed, but simple tailfin structure. Something we have "experimented" with in hundreds of thousands of missile and rocket tests and flights over the last 60+ years. This never should have been launched with such a defect. Had nothing to do with the innovative thrust source. Pure incompetence and lack of quality control. Would have been different if it failed at Mach 6, but it failed at launch just freefalling.
Airplane right on the first try???? HAHAHA you are completely wrong .. in fact the Wright brothers were so frustrated in their own early flights that they said it would probably take mankind 1000 years to figure it out. of course a year or two later by many more trials and errors he proved himself wrong.
Bravo, nothing ventured, nothing gained. This was a basic part failure not the engine or aerodynamic shape.
Do it again, we can wait.
No one would buy this. It goes so fast you can't use a cell phone while driving it. I mean it is six times faster than sound.
Did all three of the previous test flights result in failure?
Nasa is so dysfunctional, it can't even do something it already did 50 years ago.
LMAO
dip s h it. im not even a scientist and I know there are major differences. this is a scramjet engine. it takes oxygen from the atmosphere. they used rockets with oxygen added years ago.
SCRAMjet technology is NOT what failed. It was simple tailfin design failure. This is basic missile 101 stuff. Nothing to do with "experimental" thrust source technology and did not have anything to do with high stress from Mach 6 speed. It failed freefalling before the SCRAMjet even ignited.
What does NASA have to do with this? The article clearly stated that this was an Air Force test.
Now we know why he decided to become a Democrat.
New world record "most expensive turd dropped from an airplane"
They wound it up too tight and the rubber band snapped.
Orville to Wilbur after first attempt:
"let's forget it and go back to bikes"
That would have made Top Gun a bit interesting.
much more motorcycle scenes and shirtless volleyball. i can dig it.
That's ok, it's just a few million dollars more of our tax money wasted that we can't afford. Thanks defense budget.
I enjoy it when people spew crap on the internet about things they know very little about.
Please do go on, I'm sure you're an economics expert and not a local dairy queen manager.
I'd much rather spend tax dollars on advancing our army, air force, navy, equipment than for most of the programs we've wasting money on now.
How do you think new things come along anyway? Trial and error, my man, trial and error. And in this case, it costs money, but it's worth it to me.
In time, when scram jets have been integrated into commercial air flight, millions of Americans will be traveling from NY to LA in an hour or two. Unfortunately, some of these people will be like you. They rely on countless innovations developed by government programs like the one mentioned in this article, but they complain about relatively tiny amounts of money spent in order to develop the technology in the first place. Understand that this is how technology is developed, this is how society moves forward, and that tests like these drive this positive trend.
Unfortunately, this concept seems lost on so many people...
Did we outsource construction with Russia?
No, if Russia built it it would have worked, like their space capsules.
You're thinking of the first stage of the Atlas V, which uses the Russian designed and built RD-180 main engine. The Russians are very good at building rugged and reliable low-cost equipment with very good performance. They also have some very good scramjet engines in their current line of anti-ship (read U.S. aircraft carrier) cruise missiles. No surprise they won't share that with us.
gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette.
Get some Gorilla tape and wrap an extra layer around the tail fin for next time. Actually go all out – two extra layers of tape.
Shame it didn't work, but I'm not that upset about the cost. The reason why mankind advances is because we're willing to get over this stuff and continue. Those who comment about how this is a waste of money really is hilarious, Hopefully they solve the problems and master this hyper sonic technology.
The possibilities with such speed will make big advances to our society.
HA HA HA HA HA
Some of you are so st u pid and such suckers.
"The X-15A-2, first flew on 28 June 1964, reaching a maximum speed of 7,274 km/hr (4,520 m.p.h., 2,021 m/sec). in October 1967, flown by William "Pete" Knight of the U.S. Air Force."
This was done almost 50 years ago and had a pilot.
LOL
the laugh is on you... The X-15 was simply a rocket motor with wings and a pilot. Scramjets are totally different, look up the diff...
What an uninformed bonehead post. The X-15 was a rocket that carried its own oxidizer and fuel. The X-51 carries only fuel and use the oxygen in the atmosphere to oxidize it. Two vastly different technologies.
The X-15 flew in spaceusing exotic rocket fuel, this was to fly in our atmosphere using cheaper fuel and air.
The X-15 was rocket powered... the X-51 is a scramjet, which is a completely different propulsion mechanism.
Yeah but that was a rocket and this is a scramjet. Space shuttle 17,00 mph or so. What's your point.
17,000 and again different technologies. I see many others noticed the weak comparison also.
Stupid suckers? Let me guess: You googled that info and you have no idea what any of it means. Now sit down and shut up, smarty.
Space Shuttle is even faster... The scramjet can go much faster that they were testing – in fact it might be able to reach speeds fast enough to escape earth's gravity and become a much cheaper way to go into space than our current huge rockets. the was just a test – people need to understand that without tests like this we would not have cell phones, jetliners, cars or just about every thing you have except your body.
scramjet = air breathing engine = not in space.
the scramjet can get into space by accelerating to a high velocity within the atmosphere and then letting inertia take care of the rest.
Well i guess we're not ready for it yet
Maybe they should put electrolytes in the fuel, ya know, it's got electrolytes 🙂
But Brawndo's got what the X-51 craves. It's got electrolytes.
Or maybe they need to "Upgraydd" the onborad computer, whip it into shape 🙂
We choose to do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard. If it were up to many of these commenters, we would have never sailed across the atlantic, broken the sound barrier, or even reached the moon. Setbacks are a part of testing, you learn, make adjustments, and try again... you do not say oh well and give up.
I have an idea. Lets publish an article demonstrates our future Arial Surveillance / Recon and Support capabilities to the entire world so that this can be used as future propaganda and could possibly aid in the engineering of a similar piece of equipment!
any other stupid ideas Seth?
Guess 3rd time wasn't a charm. Meeh... I'm sure they will get it right next time.
At that speed what good is a tail fin? Air molecules bounce off the nose and never come back together untill well behind the tail. Maybe they need to pull the vehicle rather than push the vehicle using the power source to provide directional control?
wow, you really need to apply as a guidance and controls engineer at a company that builds rockets... first you might want to check out the educational requirements though...
Gosh, Bent, I'll bet those rocket geeks never thought of that. You da man.
Lets read this again, "a tail fin caused the missile-like vehicle to fly out of control before the main engine could be ignited". Since the main engine was not ignited, what speed are you refering to. The B52 definitely wasn't going Mach 6 before it released the vehicle. RIF = Reading Is Fundamental! LOL
we all laughted at the North Koren Missile failure, payback are hell
Yesterday it was a breakthrough in going from NY to LA in 48 minutes – today, a different story.
Take the money, and give it to those who need it. We do not need a stinking 6x Speed of Sound Terrestrial vehicle.
Love life, Stop Greediness and embrace the truth.
Wouldn't the best way to keep it TOP SECRET is to say that it "Failed" and crashed ?... Makes me think....
Exactly... why would we be so public with all of this.
I agree...how long ago was stealth technology developed before we began to actually see what the aircraft looked like. Why wouldn't this follow the same pattern?
So then every failure is a success and every success is a failure.
Top class espionage there.
Not too far from the truth. Rememer SDI during Reagan's era? All the bluffing on the laser missile shield got Soviet Union to fall apart. 30 years later, we have yet got a laser system that can do the job, still using missiles to take down missiles on our latest missile shield.
Second, this will get the Chinese and Russians, because of ego, to exhaust their resources to research the system that may not even possible in this century.
Hypersonic plain – read fast plane that can take down any missile you shoot at us! The "second" missile shield you know.
My guess is that we have hypersonic aircraft out there right now running missions – this test was either an attempt at misdirection or a success at capturing a specific datapoint that would never be made public...at least not for another 30 years...
How many light bulbs failed with Edison ... 1000 or so ... this is only a few million times more difficult.
What a catastrophe!!! It's a foreign, secret Muslim, Kenya, anti-colonialist, anti-free-market, anti-Jesus, anti-grandma, anti-puppy/kitten, socialist fascist communist plot to destroy Ahmerrca by that evil, left-handed, prosperity and happiness hating Obama. Rise up brothers and sisters, begin the revolution now!!! ... oh wait, sorry, sorry; I forgot to turn my brain on.
Thanks for the laugh. Good one!
Queue the Price is Right fail music.
Or did it fail?.... Why would we be so public with cutting edge defense technology?
If they wanted it to be a secret, they wouldn't have publicized the test in the first place. Duh....
What's another couple hundred million? We have loads of money for the military.
Captain Kirk...
We have a Worm Hole....The Engines are imblanced..
Where is Spock.....We have 30 seconds before the ship breaks up from the stress...
Sure hope they were grabbing 100% of the Avionics data in a real time data stream ...and not the PCM data crap..
Really misleading headline CNN. ONE of the three tests performed so far has failed. Please change the headline so the majority of American (non)readers can understand.
I guess you missed the part where it says "spiraled out of control and was destroyed". I am thinking the other two tests are irrelevant LOL
??? Each aircraft is destroyed after a flight test, success or failure. They have multiple aircraft.
Human kind has short term memory and we often forget about the many failures that must've taken place before an achievement is reached.
Hypersonic air breather technology....kind of reminds me of aerospace technology of the early 1900's....we know it works but we can't quite do it all the time.
Money should have been spent on illegals and welfare. Dems can get more votes from the super ignorant.
Then they obviously have your vote locked in.
with you "superior" mentality, we'd still be driving horse drawn carriages.
Great deal! So ho much taxpayer money went to this project?
enough to help defend your ass from terrorists, tool
What happened to the other two?
At least one of the other two had a successful flight. I believe they both did, but I don't remember. If you search for it, you will find the test results. This one was to go faster than the last.
Our enemies are lol at this debacle!!
Sorry but this technology appears to be a dud. For whatever reason we are not ready for hypersonic aircraft or scramjets at least in the lower atmosphere. This is not the first time this technology has failed- it is about the 10th. If the first 10 space launches blew up on the pad we would have been looking at other ways to get into space. Looks like it is time to explore other ways of hypersonic atmospheric flight- like lets try it skimming above the atmosphere instead of through it? We are pretty good at hypersonic reentry (space shuttle, dreamchaser, not to mention the recent Mars rover) but hypersonic atmospheric flight appears to be pushing the envelope too far at this time..
This is how you get ready.
Professor, I think I'l let the Air Force, rather than you, decide if it's a vaible techology or not
Look up the X-15 plane, we are not pushing too far.
DUD?
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2010/0528/Air-Force-X-51A-Waverider-faster-than-Superman
Professor, your comparrison about our first ten attempts at getting into space is quite interesting. I may have not been alive yet, but I know that U.S. attempts at launching a satellite into space were abyssmal at first. 2 of the first 10 attempts in the Vanguard Project (1957-1959) were successful in achieving its goal. That's a 20% success rate.
Also, in comparison to the X-51A Waverider, many Vanguard rockets never got off the pad, let alone flew for 16 seconds.
So, if we followed your wisdom, we wouldn't have put a man in space. We wouldn't have put a man on the moon. We wouldn't have had space flight that has resulted in numerous engineering, medical, science and technological breakthroughs and discoveries – all because it was deemed "a dud."
Like MnTaxpayer stated, let the USAF decide if the technology is viable...
I think it is totally viable and am glad to see this research taking place. It has the potential to change air travel tremendously, and most like ly at some point bleed into other technologies as well. Scramjet works, we know that. Controlling the supersonic flow through the combustor is a tricky science, as well as metering fuel for the compresssed gas. How you handle the structural aspects of the vehicle is whole other dilemna, massive heat, possible destructive buffet and control systems. There are many facets to this technology beyond the engine itself. I say keep going, keep learning and improve. Just my .02 😉
I agree to research, but i think we should put our house in order first.
Next up, understand why it failed, then, use that knowledge, not only to build the next X-51 but to improve every hypersonic design built for the rest of ever.
Failure is a chance to learn how to do better. Those who are successful don't fear failure, they see it as a chance to learn and improve.
This was a test you bunch of morons!! It might of not made it the 300 secounds, but it was going to crash in the ocean any way.
Obama you can't get nothing right..It even took you two bullets to kill Osama...You see how stupid this sounds!
Jim, you really shouldn't call people "morons", especially with your spelling (secounds) and grammar (can't get nothing right). Moron.
Don't forget "might of" instead of "might have". 🙂
North Korea is laughing at us......
Really ... The North Koreans are laughing ?? You must be talking about the ones who are not starving or stuck in a prison camp... also known as the North Korean 1%... Go to school before you pop off...
NK might be laughing if they werent all busy starving to death
Maybe they could include a parachute on the next one....Just in case!
We can land an unmanned rover on Mars, but can't successfully fly a supersonic aircraft...
Hypersonic. Much faster.
I cant help but remember the North Korean failed test earlier in the year..........
Yes... except the North Korean test was with 1970 missile technology and this was 2030 technology.... So figure it out...
If it really worked do you think we would announce it to the world? Silly civilians, there is a reason things are classified.
Not possible to keep a test like this over open ocean a secret. Do you think there might have been other interested parties with high tech tracking and recording equipment in the area?