This is very good news. An unmanned supersonic ramjet test vehicle soared to 95,000 feet and Mach 7 (about 5,000 mph).
(Dulles, VA 27 March 2004) - Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) announced today that its Hyper-X Launch Vehicle was successfully launched on Saturday, March 27 in a flight test that originated from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center located at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The Hyper-X launch vehicle uses a modified first stage rocket motor, originally designed and flight-proven aboard Orbital's Pegasus® space launch vehicle, to accelerate NASA's X-43A air-breathing scramjet to seven times the speed of sound.
Unlike vehicles with conventional rocket engines, which carry oxygen onboard, the air-breathing X-43A scoops and compresses oxygen from the atmosphere using the shape of the vehicle's airframe. This type of propulsion system could potentially increase payload capacity of future launch vehicles and make high-speed passenger travel feasible since no onboard supply of oxidizer would be required.
"We are extremely pleased with the results of the Hyper-X flight," said Ron Grabe, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Orbital's Launch Systems Group. "After several years of detailed analysis, design upgrades and testing to address the factors that contributed to the failure of the program's first flight, it is all the more gratifying to have carried out this successful flight test. This flight was one of the most challenging missions Orbital has ever conducted and demonstrated our ability to take on and tackle the toughest technical challenges."
Mr. Grabe added, "Our congratulations go out to NASA and all the partners on this program who persevered to get it right. We now have our sights set on a successful third mission to provide even more critical data to NASA's research into the field of hypersonic flight and to extend the flight speed record set today to Mach 10."
On launch day, flight operations began when NASA's B-52B carrier aircraft took off and flew a predetermined flight path to a point 50 miles off the California coast. The Hyper-X vehicle was released from the B-52 at 2:00 p.m. (PST) approximately 40,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean. Following rocket motor ignition, the Hyper-X Launch Vehicle, carrying the X-43A scramjet, accelerated to a velocity of approximately Mach 7 (or seven times the speed of sound) and reached an altitude of 95,000 feet. Approximately 90 seconds after ignition, with the booster at a precise trajectory condition, the Hyper-X launch vehicle sent commands to the X-43A scramjet, which then separated from the booster.
Early flight results indicate that the X-43A stabilized, ignited its scramjet and provided flight data back to NASA engineers. Following the engine burn, the X-43A executed a number of aerodynamic maneuvers during its eight-minute coast to an ocean impact approximately 450 miles from the launch point. After separation, the spent booster impacted the ocean in a pre-determined splash area.
The lure of a scramjet engine is that unlike a rocket it does not need to carry its oxidizer. It carries fuel but scoops oxygen from the atmosphere. A conventional jet engine does this as well but theoretically a scramjet can operate at much higher speeds. However, the heat and pressure at such high speeds have made the development of scramjet vehicles an extremely difficult challenge. Before this latest flight there was enough skepticism about scramjets that some press reports were predicting that if this flight failed the X-43A program would be cancelled. Fortunately this second X-43A test flight succeeded and NASA will continue to do scramjet vehicle development unless the Bush Administration is foolish enough to redirect the money toward a Moon and Mars expedition.
The unpiloted vehicle's supersonic combustion ramjet, or scramjet, ignited as planned and operated for the duration of its hydrogen fuel supply. The X-43A reached its test speed of Mach 7, or seven times the speed of sound.
The flight originated from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Taking off at 12:40 p.m. PST, NASA's B-52B launch aircraft carried the X-43A, which was mounted on a modified Pegasus booster rocket. The booster was launched from the B-52B just before 2 p.m. PST. The rocket boosted the X-43A up to its test altitude of about 95,000 ft. over the Pacific Ocean, where the X-43A separated from the booster and flew freely for sev
Aside: Note the reference to the B-52B above. Am I the only one who is under the impression that only B-52G and B-52H aircraft are still operational?
The flight is part of the Hyper-X program, a research effort designed to demonstrate alternate propulsion technologies for access to space and high-speed flight within the atmosphere. It will provide unique "first time" free flight data on hypersonic air-breathing engine technologies that have large potential pay-offs.
See some diagrams of the test flight here.
By Randall Parker at 2004 March 27 07:57 PM Airplanes and Spacecraft | TrackBackMy first thought was: Great!. My second thought was: what is it good for?
Military implications could be significant. One of the problems we have now with antiterrorist operations is that it takes four or five hours for a cruise missle to hit the target. If you are targeting an individual, that time lag makes cruise missiles impractical. But something going 5000 MPH would travel 500 miles in 6 minutes. It would not even have to have a warhead to obliterate a target.
Aside from potential military applications, the technology in the X-43 should help us figure out how to make engines that are reliable under extreme conditions of heat and pressure. This improved reliability could have benefits for all kkinds of things, such as the space shuttle, and even ordinary engines such as automobile engines.
It is indeed a B-52B. Here is a link to Dryden where they have pictures and a description of this 'old' mothership.
Jyaroch, The allure of scramjets is that they do not have to carry their oxidizer - least not for the atmospheric portion of their trip into space. That holds the potential of greatly increasing the deliverable payload/total weight ratio and therefore to reduce the cost of getting into space.
Mike, Thanks for investigating. It makes sense how this could have happened. NASA probably started using this B-52 as a hand-me-down from the Air Force a long time ago even before the G and H models were built and just kept maintaining it all these years. Given that it has received customizations for its task it would not be easy for NASA to switch to using a different airplane.
BTW, the 12,000 pounds of thrust per B52B engine with 8 engines works out to only 96,000 pounds of thrust total. To put that in context the Rolls Royce Trent goes as high as 114,000 pounds per engine and the General Electric GE90 is rated at 115,000 pounds thrust.
There are proposals to reengine the B52 fleet and it is my impression that this is going to happen eventually. Makes sense to do since it would increase fuel efficiency and probably bomb carrying capacity as well as perhaps increasing top speed if the airframes can handle it.
Hypersonics is an exciting field of aero/thermodynamics, and from prior experiences, it is not easy to perform. The simple fact that they got the scramjet to perform for a 10 second burn and produce positive acceleration is an amazing feat. There have been many pundits who have suggested that the scramjet would not work and that the pressure drag would be too much even if the scramjet was working to produce acceleration. The X-43A made history the other day, but it's just the beginning.
BTW
The B-52B that NASA used to launch the Hyper-X is the only B model still flying today. NASA has used it since the early 1960's for the X-15 program, the X-24A and B, the Space Shuttle SRB parachute tests, many launches in the early days of the Pegasus Rocket, drop tests of the X-38 lifting body and the Hyper-X program.
Of course, us model rocket nerds knew about scramjet-propelled Earth-to-orbit spaceplanes _decades_ ago:
http://www.ninfinger.org/~sven/rockets/nostalgia/70est020.html
I worked for Parker Aerospace where the aerodynamic actuators and controllers were built for the Hyper-X program. There were many problems with quality, testing, etc. I'm surprised that the test worked.
Hello,
I am a research student and working on design of scramjet engine. I came across a good paper by Hideo Ikawa “Rapid methodology for design and performance prediction of integrated supersonic combustion ramjet engine” Journal of propulsion, Vol. 7, No. 3, May-June 1991, pp 437-444.
I tried to implement the methodology given by the author. I could get write answers for the temperature,pressure and Mach number which match with the plots given by the author. But I am getting different mass flow rate than given the author.
I have used 2-D inviscid shock relations (as mentioned by the author) for those calculations. I have used same properties as given by the author.
If any of you have seen the paper, could you please tell where am I wrong.
With regards
Vinayak
There are no more flying B-52G's, we flew the last of them 10 years ago and retired the G model in late 1994. There are Only H models flying now. The Current Engines produce ( T-33-103's) 18,000 lbs of thrust per engine. With a max gross weight takeoff of 488,000lbs. As for any other scram jet info, I am no help.
-Jonathan
Sorry to post this so late, but in an article today (11/16/2004) it mentioned that the X43A flew nearly Mach 10 and was launched from a B52B. I read an article a couple of years ago that this plane was scheduled to be replaced with a "brand new 1961 B52H" (which is still operational) with a universal docking pylon. DFRC was reportedly excited to have a B52 that was current, since they had been scavenging parts from the boneyard, museums, and had been reduced to fabricating them from scratch. I assume that they're probably still using the B52B because the pylon to attach the X43A already exists?
im positively fascinated by this information!! ive been searching for the results of the launch and the dynamics of the scramjet. ive also been searching for the tech info on the stresses and nozzle shapes that make mach 10 flight possible. I find it mind bending that we have gon this far in the past 100 years form the first powerd flight. I also can understand why we still use the B52 for the flying platforms. Its been a great, stabel, and reliable launching platform since the late 60's. Ive been looking up the info that the B52 has helped us obtain. I do not forsee the termination on NASA using the B52 for several years to come. Seeing that im only 15 i cant do anything exponential about this but i have been experamenting with ram jets at my house. ive found a few promising ways to get the best results. the best one ive made so far has put out about 100 lbs of thrust fomr a 3 ft ong tube with a specialy bent noxxle to ompress the 500 mph wind ive been pushing through it. if u would like to see some of my results feel free to repost. {sory for the ram jet part. I figured it is similar in basic design} DAve.