Jan 13

SpaceShip Two Completes Another Test Flight

Posted in: Today's Chili

A few days ago, Virgin Galactic successfully completed another test flight. The test flight happened last Friday and saw the craft reach its highest altitude yet.

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You might think the pilot behind the controls would have looked out the window for a bit and enjoyed the view at 71,000 feet. Pilot David Mackay said he didn’t get to look out the window because he was too busy checking the thruster system that will be used to control the craft in space.

SpaceShip Two will eventually fly to an altitude of 62 miles above the surface of the Earth, which is the official start of outer space. Passengers aboard the spacecraft will pay $250,000 each to make the trip into space.

[via NBC News]

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Aug 16

X-51A WaveRider hypersonic mission doomed by bum missile fin

Posted in: Today's Chili

DNP X51A Waverider hypersonic test fails with snapped fin before scramjet deployed

The latest attempt to go past Mach 5 with the X51A has finished badly again, as a broken fin caused the missile to lose control before its air-breathing “scramjet‘” motor could even kick in. It happened just after the booster rocket phase, which accelerates the craft to at least Mach 4, a high enough velocity for the hypersonic scramjet to work. The craft ended up in the Pacific shortly afterwards instead, and this latest affair may end up dunking the entire $300 million program. The Air Force initiative is already short on funding, and the previous two tries were equally dismal failures — meaning a fourth missile, already built, may end up a museum piece.

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X-51A WaveRider hypersonic mission doomed by bum missile fin originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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