Falcon HTV-2 test flight ends in Pacific failure
by Steven Mostyn - Aug 12 2011, 12:02
Another Falcon sent to a watery grave. Image: DARPA.
The evolution of airborne technology has suffered something of a gut punch this week following news that an experimental hypersonic plane has crashed during an ambitious test flight.
According to U.S. military officials, communication with the unmanned Falcon HTV-2 aircraft was lost shortly after separation from the launch rocket that transported it to the outer edges of space.
Contact with the Falcon HTV-2 failed after around nine minutes of solo flight, and mission controllers believe the bullet-shaped craft has been destroyed after plunging into the Pacific Ocean.
Despite any associated disappointments, the technology powering the Falcon project is still expected to one day propel people across great distances some 22 times quicker than modern jetliners (at speeds of approx. 13,000 mph).
Indeed, if its engines ever make it into commercial aircraft, passengers could travel between London, England, and Sydney, Australia, in less than 60 minutes.
An initial test flight in April came to nought when a technical glitch caused the Falcon to ditch in the ocean soon after separation high above the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Prior to the malfunction, the craft had reached a speed of almost 17,000 mph.
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