Supersonic Goes Hyper

Taking the leap well beyond supersonic flight, a hypersonic X-43 aircraft reached a record-breaking speed of Mach 9.6, or nearly 7,000 mph, during a flight over the Pacific Ocean in November of 2004. The X-43 seen here is the small black aircraft attached to the nose of a modified Pegasus booster rocket, which is hung from a pylon attached to NASA's B-52B mother ship. The X-43 project demonstrated that a supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) powered engine could work at hypersonic speeds and high altitude. Future airplanes and reusable launch vehicles might employ this technology to make quick jumps across the ocean or reach into orbit.

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