The X-51A Waverider was released from a B-52 Stratofortress off the southern
California coast and its scramjet engine accelerated the aircraft to Mach 6, and
it flew autonomously for 200 seconds before losing acceleration. At that point
the test was terminated.
The Air Force said the previous record for a hypersonic flight was 12
seconds.
"We are ecstatic to have accomplished many of the X-51A test points during
its first hypersonic mission," said Charlie Brink, an X-51A program manager with
the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
"We equate this leap in engine technology as equivalent to the post-World War II jump from propeller-driven aircraft to jet engines," he said.
The Waverider was built for the Air Force by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and Boeing Co.
Joe Vogel, Boeing's director of hypersonics, said, "This is a new world record and sets the foundation for several hypersonic applications, including access to space, reconnaissance, strike, global reach and commercial transportation."
Four X-51A cruisers have been built for the Air Force, and the remaining three will be tested this autumn.
"No test is perfect," Mr Brink said, "and I'm sure we will find anomalies that we will need to address before the next flight."
"We equate this leap in engine technology as equivalent to the post-World War II jump from propeller-driven aircraft to jet engines," he said.
The Waverider was built for the Air Force by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and Boeing Co.
Joe Vogel, Boeing's director of hypersonics, said, "This is a new world record and sets the foundation for several hypersonic applications, including access to space, reconnaissance, strike, global reach and commercial transportation."
Four X-51A cruisers have been built for the Air Force, and the remaining three will be tested this autumn.
"No test is perfect," Mr Brink said, "and I'm sure we will find anomalies that we will need to address before the next flight."
A Força Aérea dos EUA anunciou nesta quinta (27) ter tido sucesso no teste do
avião hipersônico X-51A, realizado anteontem.
A nave, que levantou voo acoplada a um avião B-52, foi solta sobre o Oceano
Pacífico na costa da Califórnia.
O motor do X-51A entrou em funcionamento em seguida e acelerou a nave até
cerca de seis vezes a velocidade do som (a velocidade do som é de 1.224 km/h; o
avião atingiu uma velocidade próxima a 7.344 km/h).
O voo durou mais de 200 segundos, o maior período de voo hipersônico atingido
até o momento. O recorde anterior era do veículo X-43 da Nasa, que voou por 12
segundos. Após o voo hipersônico o avião espatifou-se no Pacífico.
A expectativa era a de que o X-51A conseguisse manter-se em velocidades
hipersônicas por até 300 segundos. Apesar de não atingir as expectativas, o
teste foi considerado um sucesso pela Força Aérea.
A Força Aérea planeja realizar mais três voos. O próximo será realizado no
ano que vem.
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