It was separated from the booster rocket by two small pistons. Other than differences of altitude, speed and distance covered, the Mach 10 flight profile followed that of the Mach 7 flight: The Mach 10 research vehicle separated from the booster and flew under its own power and preprogrammed control. At that point, each stack was dropped from the B-52B, and the booster lifted each research vehicle to its unique test altitude and speed. Release altitude from the B-52B was 40,000 feet for both successful flights. Carbon-carbon composite material, for instance, was added to the leading edges of the vehicle’s vertical fins to handle the higher temperatures.īoth flights began with the stack being carried by a B-52B aircraft from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center to a predetermined point over the Pacific Ocean, 50 miles west of the Southern California coast. The Mach 10 research vehicle featured additional thermal protection, since expected heating was roughly twice that experienced by the Mach 7 vehicle. During its third and final flight – at nearly Mach 10 – the X-43A research vehicle flew at approximately 7,000 mph at 110,000 feet altitude, setting the current world speed record for an air-breathing vehicle. The X-43A research vehicle was boosted to 95,000 feet for a brief preprogrammed engine burn at nearly Mach 7, or seven times the speed of sound. Mach 6.8 was reached in March of 2004, and Mach 9.6 was reached in the final flight in November of 2004.Īt nearly 5,000 mph, the March flight easily broke the previous world speed record for a jet-powered (air breathing) vehicle. The Record-Breaking FlightĪfter the first flight attempt in June of 2001 failed when the booster rocket went out of control, the second and third attempts resulted in highly successful, record-breaking flights. At these speeds, the shape of the vehicle forebody served the same purpose as pistons in a car, compressing the air as fuel is injected for combustion. The first and second vehicles were designed to fly at Mach 7 and the third at Mach 10. They are identical in appearance, but engineered with slight differences that simulate variable engine geometry, generally a function of Mach number. Each of the 12-foot-long, 5-foot-wide lifting body vehicles was designed to fly once and not be recovered. Three unpiloted X-43A research aircraft were built. Hyper-X research began with conceptual design and wind tunnel work in 1996.

Careful analyses and design were applied to reduce risks to acceptable levels even so, some level of residual risk was inherent to the program. In addition, the rocket boost and subsequent separation from the rocket to get to the scramjet test condition had complex elements that had to work properly for mission success. No vehicle powered by an air-breathing engine had ever flown at hypersonic speeds before the successful March 2004 flight. It undertook challenges never before attempted. The eight-year, approximately $230 million NASA Hyper-X program was a high-risk, high-payoff research program. Ultimate applications include future hypersonic missiles, hypersonic airplanes, the first stage of two-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicles and single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicles. Researchers have worked for decades to demonstrate scramjet technologies, first in wind tunnels and computer simulations, and now in an airplane in flight.

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