Hypersonic Test Aircraft Peeled Apart After 3 Minutes of Sustained Mach 20 Speed 191
coondoggie writes "DARPA's experimental Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV-2), lost significant portions of its outer skin and became uncontrollable after three minutes of sustained Mach 20 speed last August. That was the conclusion of an independent engineering review board investigating the cause of what DARPA calls a 'flight anomaly' in the second test flight of the HTV-2. Quoting the report: 'The resulting gaps created strong, impulsive shock waves around the vehicle as it traveled nearly 13,000 miles per hour, causing the vehicle to roll abruptly. Based on knowledge gained from the first flight in 2010 and incorporated into the second flight, the vehicle's aerodynamic stability allowed it to right itself successfully after several shockwave-induced rolls. Eventually, however, the severity of the continued disturbances finally exceeded the vehicle's ability to recover.'"
Re:scientifically (Score:5, Funny)
Right. Glad you grasped the point of the project so well, and didn't try to wedge in some off-topic nonsense.
Not so bad... (Score:4, Funny)
They only need to achieve 39 more minutes of flight time and they'll match the range of a 787!
Great, a idea for a subplot in the next SAW movie (Score:2, Funny)
James Han and Leigh Whannell are probably working on the plot right now...
Which "technology"? (Score:5, Funny)
When you say the fuel source doesn't matter, are you referrring to sustaining speeds of Mach 20, or to the plane's Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly feature?
Re:Disposable Vehicles? (Score:5, Funny)
Fortunately, we'll have disposable people riding in it.
Re:Which "technology"? (Score:5, Funny)
As far as I can tell, the "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly feature" seems to be fully wind-powered.
Of course it fell aprt (Score:5, Funny)
If advanced planes work perfectly, we will never get a Bionic Man.
Re:scientifically (Score:5, Funny)
640mi (in 3 min) should be enough for anyone.
So just slow it to Mach 19.7.
Re:scientifically (Score:5, Funny)
And scientifically, it went around 750 miles in 3 minutes. In an atmosphere. That's a pretty damn awesome piece of engineering.
Meteors do that every day. And, they have the same end result.
Re:WHAT THE FUCK IS THE ALTERNATIVE? (Score:5, Funny)
What I really want is a bicycle powered, mach 20 vehicle. And a unicorn. And some waffles.
Re:Expert opinion (Score:3, Funny)
You run Linux regularly? You either are: a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit operating outside of its designed architecture, or making shit up. Who thinks this stuff up?
Re:Disposable Vehicles? (Score:5, Funny)
Fortunately, we'll have disposable people riding in it.
Finally, a use for Intellectual Property Lawyers!