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Hampton VA (UPI) Nov 10, 2004 The U.S. space agency is preparing for the launch of a rocket-assisted jet so fast it would cover a coast-to-coast flight in 20 minutes. Known as a scramjet, NASA intends to break the aircraft speed record next week, for the second time in 7 1/2 months, by flying its X-43A scramjet craft 110,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean at speeds close about 7,200 mph, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. That's 10 times the speed of sound or Mach 10. The hypersonic experiment will last an estimated 10 seconds before the pilotless aircraft falls into the water some 850 miles off California. More scramjet flights are in the works. Next year U.S. and Australian armed forces will also try for a Mach 10 flight as part of an effort to use scramjets to launch satellites. And within five years the U.S. Air Force aims for a scramjet-driven cruise missile fast enough to drive explosives deep into hardened targets. Similar projects are underway in France and Japan. All rights reserved. Copyright 2004 by United Press International. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by United Press International. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of by United Press International. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com
![]() ![]() Flames, smoke and a deafening noise accompanied the first firing test of Vega's Zefiro 9 third-stage solid rocket motor. A first examination of the data indicates that everything went well at the test carried out yesterday at Salto de Quirra in southeast Sardinia. |
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