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Air-Breathing Test Plane
A small, air-breathing test plane will attempt to blaze into history on Monday by flying at nearly 10 times the speed of sound. The hypersonic craft is one of three built by NASA for its $230-million Hyper-X project, established in 1996. At 3.7 metres long, the new type of plane reaches rocket-like speeds but is more efficient because it does not need to carry oxygen to ignite its fuel supply - it takes oxygen from the atmosphere. And unlike jet plane engines, which use fans to compress air to light fuel for propulsion, the vehicles' engines use no moving parts - the shape of their bellies sucks in and compresses air at supersonic speeds.
NewSci, Nov 12, 2004
Northrop, Boeing plan joint bid for shuttle replacement - USA Today, Nov 10, 2004
Solar sail update - USA Today, Nov 9, 2004
The Persuaders - PBS, Nov 8, 2004
Ion-drive module arrives at the Moon -Nature, Nov 8, 2004
Dali In hollywood - Pete Times, Oct 10,2004 |
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