Imagine being able to fly from New York to Los Angeles in under an hour. Fantasy? Not exactly!
A superfast jet designed to make what was once impossible — possible, may be one step closer to reality after a critical test today. The X-51A WaveRider, an unmanned aircraft that could reach speeds up to Mach 6 will be launched from the wing of a B-52 bomber high above the Pacific Ocean this morning, with its creators crossing their fingers for a successful run.
The WaveRider is expected to climb into the upper atmosphere and fly at hypersonic speeds—3,600 mph—for 300 seconds, before breaking up into the ocean. If successful, the WaveRider could then be used to design a passenger jet that could travel from coast to coast in about 46 minutes.
But in addition to passenger flights, achieving hypersonic speeds would almost certainly lead to the development of the next generation of missiles, space vehicles and military aircraft.
The Pentagon has spent about $2 billion on technology and engineering around hypersonic flight over the last decade. This program is estimated to cost about $140 million, according to Globalsecurity.org, a military policy research website.
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