NASA Scramjet test successful
19 November 2004
by Richard
Conan-Davies
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Reaching speeds of close to 12,000 km/h NASA successfully tested it's most recent hypersonic jet engine called a scramjet. The engine and test craft called a X-43A uses oxygen it collects at high speed to provide thrust and combustion giving it an extra boost without needing to carry extra onboard oxygen. This type of scramjet also can act more like the throttle that can be changed on an jet plane rather than like rocket that tends to just produce one level of thrust. Administrator Sean O'Keefe of NASA explained in a press release that "These developments will also help us advance the Vision for Space Exploration, while helping to advance commercial aviation technology" |
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