2010-05-25

Boeing X-51 WaveRider Hypersonic Scramjet

Boeing X-51

The Boeing X-51 is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic (Mach 7, around 8,050 km/h) flight testing. The X-51 WaveRider program is a consortium of the US Air Force, DARPA, NASA, Boeing and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. The program is managed by the Propulsion Directorate within the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).[1] The X-51 has flown on a B-52 and is expected to have its first non-captive flight as early as May 25, 2010.[2]







The X-51 WaveRider team is focused on developing a free-flying vehicle that will fly longer hypersonically than all of it predecessors combined. Hypersonic speeds are those in excess of Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound).
[...]

The Boeing X-51 team purposely developed the vehicle to package a specific engine type into a soon-to-be-demonstrated platform. When this jet-fueled, air breathing hypersonic vehicle flies in late 2009 and early 2010, it will demonstrate a reliable system capable of operating continuously on jet fuel and accelerating through multiple Mach numbers
Collected from: Boeing: X-51 WaveRider

Air Force's Hypersonic X-51 WaveRider Ready For First Test Flight




X-51 WaveRider The X-51A WaveRider, a wingless scramjet, will make its first hypersonic test flight Tuesday over the Pacific Ocean. Air Force Research Laboratory

The X-51A WaveRider, which sort of resembles a shark, will fly for about five minutes, powered by a scramjet engine. It should reach about Mach 6 and transmit data to ground stations before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, according to the Air Force Research Laboratory.
 
The longest previous hypersonic scramjet flight test, performed by a NASA X-43 in 2004, was faster, but lasted only about 10 seconds and used hydrogen fuel. The X-51 uses JP-7 jet fuel, the same juice that powered the SR-71 Blackbird.


X-51A WaveRider hypersonic scramjet testbed




Sources
Boeing X-51 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-51
Boeing: X-51 WaveRider
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/waverider/index.html
Air Force's Hypersonic X-51 WaveRider Ready For First Test Flight | Popular Science
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-05/air-forces-hypersonic-waverider-ready-test-flight
YouTube - X-51A WaveRider hypersonic scramjet testbed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aNsbb4_C9A&feature=player_embedded

Related
Air Force’s Mach 6 Cruise Missile Ready to Race | Danger Room | Wired.com
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/05/pentagons-mach-6-cruise-missile-ready-to-race/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
YouTube - Boeing X-51 WaveRider Scramjet Engine Demonstrator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV8AfgbGh5M&feature=related
Hypersonic Plane Update on the X-51 Waverider and Falcon Scramjet
http://nextbigfuture.com/2009/05/hypersonic-plane-update-on-x-51.html
Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | X-51 scramjet flights poised to bridge air and space propulsion for space launch, Prompt Global Strike
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1005/16waverider/