X-51A Waverider Reaches Mach 6 Speed

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CALIFORNIA (GaeaTimes.com)- The US Air Force tasted success with the maiden flight of the much touted X-51A Waverider experimental aircraft yesterday. The hypersonic craft reached a tremendous speed of Mach 6 and sustained that speed for 200 seconds which is a new record. The craft flew at that speed which is six times faster than sound. The scramjet technology powered aircraft was tasted near southern California over the Pacific Ocean, as it has been reported. In its debut autonomous flight the X-51A Waverider was taken to a height of 50000 feet with the aid of a B-52H Stratofortress aircraft and thereafter it was accelerated to a speed of Mach 4.8 by means of a solid rocket booster. After that the missile flew at Mach 6 speed using its Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne scramjet motor which uses a blend of special JP-7 jet fuel and ethylene.

The X-51A Waverider is a part of an ambitious program undertaken by the US Air Force and the aim of it is to make a scramjet-powered free-flying craft that is capable of achieving unremitting hypersonic speed. However, the aim is not that easy to achieve. The US Air Force officials are dubbing the maiden flight of the scramjet powered aircraft success but the data transmitted by the X-51A remains to be analyzed.

The officials further said that the experimental aircraft X-51A Waverider met a number of targets in its first flight. The craft is a result of a tie up between heavyweight entities like USAF, NASA, the Boeing Company, DARPA and engine maker Pratt and Whitney.