U.S., NASA Futuristic Plane to Make Maiden FlightNASA's first unpiloted X-43A, which is designed to travel through the atmosphere at 11,000 kmph, will make its maiden flight in mid-May.The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the futurist plane is designed to fly seven to 10 times as fast as the speed of sound. Mach 1 is the speed of sound, which varies by altitude and is 1,224 kmph at sea level. X-43A is a four-meter-long, surfboard-shaped plane, and NASA will test two more such planes. If successful, the planes will break the speed record of Mach 6.7, set by an X-15 in October 1967. Unlike the rocket-powered X-15, the X-43A has an air-breathing engine. It carries hydrogen for fuel, but must use oxygen in the atmosphere for combustion. Conventional rockets carry both fuel and an oxidant. Currently, the fastest air-breathing aircraft is the SR-71 " Blackbird," which cruises slightly faster than Mach 3. The X-43A should become the first air-breathing plane to go hypersonic, or faster than Mach 5. The 185-million-dollar X-43A project is experimental. The plane will probably never carry commercial passengers because of the high acceleration, heat generated by friction with the atmosphere, and the difficulty of turning a plane at such high speeds. However, engineers will collect flight data needed to build future planes perhaps 67 meter in length. The first piloted prototypes may fly by 2025. |
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