scramjet

My favourite aeronautical-engineering endeavour gets its first vehicular tryout today, after last year's successful test of a scramjet engine by Queensland University; NASA's unmanned X-43A, a hypersonic scramjet-powered research aircraft designed to fly at speeds of up to Mach 10, which is pretty zippy (7650 mph ish), will be dropped from a B52 bomber off the California coast at some time after 12:00 PST (20:00 here) according to NASA's schedule, after which they hope to send it to Mach 7 (5000 mph). NASA TV will have a live feed here.

Things like this always explode. And they want to turn it into mass-transport technology? I'd like to be able to bite my tongue over the following words, but... not in my lifetime.

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EDIT: Well that was just about the coolest thing I've ever seen. It didn't explode, reaching Mach 5 before the data stream failed, thereafter coming back online as it dropped back to Mach 1 before wiping out in the Pacific; the onboard computer will reveal all when recovered. Feeds included all the pre-launch checks, live views of the rudder tests on both the vehicle and the rocket it sat upon, the exciting ignition sequence ("On my mark... five... four... three... !"), flyby shots from the F18s, and plenty of footage of the B52 itself; that mechanical marvel is sex on wings. Somehow, I don't ever see myself in the cockpit of one of those -- well, I do, I just can't -- but vicarious living isn't entirely lacking in satisfaction. Wicked.

My body temperature is 102.5 F; I feel rough. Grrr, perfect timing.