chief108
9th October 2010, 18:55
Two sub-orbital prototypes have been built and are currently being tested by Boeing and NASA. The X-43 and X-51 which are part of the ongoing X-plane project.
Summary:
Scramjet - Improvement on Ramjet and Pulse Detonation engines. Theoretical top speed of Mach 24 (that would mean New York to London in 11 minutes) approaching atmosphere reentry speeds. Incredible acceleration/deceleration time makes it virtually impossible to overshoot the destination. The re-usable heat shielding materials needed for the extreme temperatures generated at these speeds should be available within the next five years at the very latest.
A couple of points:
-These things will probably have, in their early stages, a high rate of accidents, but despite several fiery crashes will still be safer than road travel.
-Will probably only be available to rich/elite. They will probably replace Gulfstreams and Boeing Business Jets as the top choice in private aviation. They'll also, like private aircraft, probably take off from private airfields rather than airports(VIPs expect to be driven right up to the plane, with their underling having taken care of all that customs shit).
-Will probably be flown by ex-air force pilots rather than civil aviation ones.
-Having a high-hypersonic engine, and thus less moving parts, and also benefiting from the advance of Materials Science coupled with being smaller will make these cheaper to build than Concorde. The gradual switch to alternative energy in coming years will also make them cheaper to operate.
Boeing X-51 Waverider
http://i54.tinypic.com/skz0xu.jpg
From Wiki:
A scramjet is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing combustion jet engine in which the combustion process takes place in supersonic airflow. As in ramjets, a scramjet relies on high vehicle speed to forcefully compress and decelerate the incoming air before combustion (hence ramjet), but whereas a ramjet decelerates the air to subsonic velocities before combustion, airflow in a scramjet is supersonic throughout the entire engine. This allows the scramjet to efficiently operate at extremely high speeds: theoretical projections place the top speed of a scramjet between Mach 12 and Mach 24, which is near orbital velocity. For comparison, the fastest manned airbreathing aircraft, the SR-71 Blackbird, has a maximum speed of Mach 3.2.
NASA X-43
http://i52.tinypic.com/20tgjuu.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/2ajdzqx.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/scxisj.png
http://i53.tinypic.com/2ikxevr.jpg
<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IiBsD-cafH8&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IiBsD-cafH8&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>
<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/x83KeVAzth0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/x83KeVAzth0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>
This might even be the much-awaited technology that will allow vehicles to reach space in a single stage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-stage-to-orbit
Summary:
Scramjet - Improvement on Ramjet and Pulse Detonation engines. Theoretical top speed of Mach 24 (that would mean New York to London in 11 minutes) approaching atmosphere reentry speeds. Incredible acceleration/deceleration time makes it virtually impossible to overshoot the destination. The re-usable heat shielding materials needed for the extreme temperatures generated at these speeds should be available within the next five years at the very latest.
A couple of points:
-These things will probably have, in their early stages, a high rate of accidents, but despite several fiery crashes will still be safer than road travel.
-Will probably only be available to rich/elite. They will probably replace Gulfstreams and Boeing Business Jets as the top choice in private aviation. They'll also, like private aircraft, probably take off from private airfields rather than airports(VIPs expect to be driven right up to the plane, with their underling having taken care of all that customs shit).
-Will probably be flown by ex-air force pilots rather than civil aviation ones.
-Having a high-hypersonic engine, and thus less moving parts, and also benefiting from the advance of Materials Science coupled with being smaller will make these cheaper to build than Concorde. The gradual switch to alternative energy in coming years will also make them cheaper to operate.
Boeing X-51 Waverider
http://i54.tinypic.com/skz0xu.jpg
From Wiki:
A scramjet is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing combustion jet engine in which the combustion process takes place in supersonic airflow. As in ramjets, a scramjet relies on high vehicle speed to forcefully compress and decelerate the incoming air before combustion (hence ramjet), but whereas a ramjet decelerates the air to subsonic velocities before combustion, airflow in a scramjet is supersonic throughout the entire engine. This allows the scramjet to efficiently operate at extremely high speeds: theoretical projections place the top speed of a scramjet between Mach 12 and Mach 24, which is near orbital velocity. For comparison, the fastest manned airbreathing aircraft, the SR-71 Blackbird, has a maximum speed of Mach 3.2.
NASA X-43
http://i52.tinypic.com/20tgjuu.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/2ajdzqx.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/scxisj.png
http://i53.tinypic.com/2ikxevr.jpg
<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IiBsD-cafH8&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IiBsD-cafH8&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>
<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/x83KeVAzth0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/x83KeVAzth0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>
This might even be the much-awaited technology that will allow vehicles to reach space in a single stage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-stage-to-orbit