Post by glactus on Aug 20, 2011 1:28:36 GMT
Falcon reached Mach 20 before crashing into ocean, DARPA says.
The prototype falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, an unmanned military plane, splashed into the Pacific Ocean earlier than planned, but military officials said that first it traveled at 20 times the speed of sound. "HTV-2 demonstrated stable, aerodynamically controlled Mach 20 hypersonic flight for approximately three minutes," said Regina Dugan, director of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which oversaw the flight. "We do not yet know the cause of the flight anomaly.
The DARP hypersonic plane
The DARPA Falcon Project is a two-part joint project between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the United States Air Force (USAF) and is part of Prompt Global Strike. One part of the program aims to develop a reusable, rapid-strike Hypersonic Weapon System (HWS), now retitled the Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle (HCV), and the other is for the development of a launch system capable of accelerating a HCV to cruise speeds, as well as launching small satellites into earth orbit. This two-part program was announced in 2003 and continued into 2006.
The Falcon in hypersonics
Credits: These are USAF images
Text by Wikipedia/AIA Daily lead.
The prototype falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, an unmanned military plane, splashed into the Pacific Ocean earlier than planned, but military officials said that first it traveled at 20 times the speed of sound. "HTV-2 demonstrated stable, aerodynamically controlled Mach 20 hypersonic flight for approximately three minutes," said Regina Dugan, director of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which oversaw the flight. "We do not yet know the cause of the flight anomaly.
The DARP hypersonic plane
The DARPA Falcon Project is a two-part joint project between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the United States Air Force (USAF) and is part of Prompt Global Strike. One part of the program aims to develop a reusable, rapid-strike Hypersonic Weapon System (HWS), now retitled the Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle (HCV), and the other is for the development of a launch system capable of accelerating a HCV to cruise speeds, as well as launching small satellites into earth orbit. This two-part program was announced in 2003 and continued into 2006.
The Falcon in hypersonics
Credits: These are USAF images
Text by Wikipedia/AIA Daily lead.