HyCAUSE hits MACH 10

[docm]

Article....<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p><b>Scramjet hits Mach 10 over Australia</b><br /><br />A supersonic scramjet engine has been successfully launched from a test range in Australia. The Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) said the scramjet achieved reached 10 times the speed of sound during the test.<br /><br />Scramjets are supersonic combustion engines that use oxygen from the atmosphere to burn onboard fuel. By contrast, conventional rockets carry their own oxygen to burn fuel. The hope is that scramjets can be made lighter and faster than oxygen-carrying rockets.<br /><br />But mixing oxygen with a fuel in a supersonic airflow and then igniting it is tricky. The tests involved accelerating the scramjet to several times the speed of sound and switching it on.<br /><br />A rocket carrying the HyCAUSE scramjet engine blasted off from the Woomera range in South Australia on Friday. It reached an altitude of 530 kilometres before re-entering the earth’s atmosphere where the scramjet engine was successfully ignited.<br />Successful test<br /><br />HyCAUSE is the Hypersonic Collaborative Australia/United States Experiment – a collaboration between the DSTO and the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The ultimate goal of the tests is to design an engine that produces more thrust than drag.<br /><br />"It looks like we've been very successful," said Steve Butler, a spokesman for the DSTO. "We've got to go away and collate the data, that will take a few weeks, but it looks very promising."<br /><br />Aircraft flying at Mach 10 could cut travelling time between Sydney and London to as little as two hours.<br />Increased payloads<br /><br />"This technology has the potential to put numerous defence and civilian aerospace applications within our reach during the next couple of decades," said W</p></blockquote> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[no_way]

and good discussion on its applicability to space launch:<br />http://www.transterrestrial.com/archives/009206.html

 

[docm]

From that thread;<br /><br /><font color="yellow">aerospikes ? as its very likely that first orbital RLVs are going to be TSTO designs, with large hydrocarbon first stage to get above the atmosphere</font><br /><br />Best re-think the use of hydrocarbon fuels as they produce CO2, which with high launch rates (and thus />publicity) will bring down the global warming police....justified or not. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[josh_simonson]

Not really, a liquid methane engine rocket could be fueled from a water treatment plant. Global warming aside, hydrocarbons will continue to be used on large industrial scales for the rest of time because they are fundamental building blocks that are irreplaceable. The source for said material doesn't need to be a coal mine or oil well though, it might not be as cheap, but fuel is a negligible cost to spaceflight anyway.

 

[nyarlathotep]

<font color="yellow">Best re-think the use of hydrocarbon fuels as they produce CO2, which with high launch rates (and thus >publicity) will bring down the global warming police....justified or not.</font><br /><br />Just tell them that company management's offices are in the flame duct.