Thread: $300m Hypersonic Prototype Goes Missing minutes after Launch

Up, up... and away! $300m hypersonic aircraft goes MISSING after ground officials lose contact just minutes after its launch

Aircraft would take 12 minutes to fly from New York to Los Angeles

Model launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on central California coast

U.S. agency reported successful launch but lost contact later

By Daniel Bates
Last updated at 4:02 PM on 12th August 2011
70 Comments

It promises to revolutionise air travel, slashing the flying time from London to Sydney to just an hour.

Yesterday the 13,000mph aircraft of the future took off for a crucial test flight.

Within hours however, the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 appeared to have failed the test


Falcon HTV-2: The aircraft can travel at 20 times the speed of sound - or 13,000mph. It is part of research effort by DARPA to one day make long-duration hypersonic flight a reality


On the ground: This photo from Vandenberg Air Force Base shows a Minotaur IV rocket standing beside Space Launch Complex-8 in California, which the hypersonic glider was due to launch from


Epic: The mission might lead to new records, super weapons and eventually, cross-country and global travel at colossal speeds. The aircraft is unmanned, rocket-launched and manoeuvrable

FLIGHT OF THE FALCON

Name: Falcon HTV-2

Mission: To provide the U.S. Military with its first in a new generation of sub-orbital weaons.

Top speed: 13,000mph or Mach 22. A MiG-25 can typically reach Mach 2.3, or 1,520mph

Length: 12ft long
Weight: 900kg

Materials: Made of experimental material that can withstand up to 3,500f (2000C) it will experience upon re-entry.

Cost: $308million (£189million), so far

Payload: Potentially anything up to 12,000lbs, including a nuclear bomb.

Range: Anywhere in the world in less than 60 minutes

It was launched from a Californian rocket pad to the edge of space and was due to glide back down to Earth at roughly four miles per second.

But all contact was lost and the craft was thought to have crashed.

It was a cruel anti-climax after all the hype, and a case of back to the drawing board for its developers at the Pentagon.

The project is being run in conjunction with America's Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency as part of research into a new generation of weapons.

But while the Pentagon is more interested in it as a weapon with the potential to strike rogue states anywhere on Earth in under 60 minutes, its scope for commercial travel could be immense.

The Falcon, which is unmanned, lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base on board an Air Force Minotaur IV rocket. This took the HTV-2 to the edge of the atmosphere.




The rocket carrying the Falcon will take off on Thursday, weather permitting, after originally being planned for Wednesday

After it separated from the rocket, it was supposed to glide over the Pacific at up to 20 times the speed of sound.

The take-off went well but contact was lost with the craft at the glide phase.

The Falcon reaches such a high speed partly because of its own weight descending through Earth's atmosphere, but also because of the experimental engines on board which are designed to run at extreme velocities.

Last night marked its second mission.

The first had to be aborted last year after its onboard systems detected a fault.

Video: DARPA's Falcon HTV-2 complete flight overview - (edited by robotpig.net) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvoUJkUh ... r_embedded

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... aunch.html

Second Test Flight of the Falcon HTV-2 set for Today- 20x the Speed of SOUND - Aug. 10, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIekUTEEbmQ&NR=1

Aug 10, 2011

Thanks a lot DARPA lets hope it doesn't crash into anything important!!

"Defense Department Plans the Second Test for the super fast Falcon HTV-2. The arrow-shaped unmanned Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (FTVH2) is scheduled to be launched between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. today, aboard an eight-story Minotaur IV rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, just northwest of Santa Barbara, California."

my lord that thing disapeared at a blistering speed

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

sorry; I just can't deal with Goof balls bragging about crap before they even test it then make fools of themselves at a break neck speed