A two-hour flight from Sydney to London is a step closer to reality after the latest successful test yesterday of hypersonic technology in the Australian desert.
A joint US-Australian military research team is running a series of 10 trials at the world’s largest land testing range, Woomera, South Australia, and at Norway’s Andoya Rocket Range.
“It is a game-changing technology ... and could revolutionize global air travel, providing cost-effective access to space,” Australian chief scientist Alex Zelinsky said in a statement.
Photo: AFP / Australian Defence
Scientists have said hypersonic technology could cut the traveling time from Sydney to London to as little as two hours for the 17,000km flight.
Hypersonic flight involves traveling at more than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5).
Scientists involved in the program — called Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation — are developing an engine that can fly at Mach 7, Michael Smart of the University of Queensland said.
“It’s an exciting time ... we want to be able to fly with a hypersonic engine at Mach 7,” said Smart, a hypersonics expert involved in the program, which also includes US aerospace giant Boeing and German space agency DLR.
He added that the scram jet is a supersonic combustion engine that uses oxygen from the atmosphere for fuel, making it lighter and faster than fuel-carrying rockets.
“The practical application of that is you could fly long distances over the Earth very, very quickly, but also that it’s very useful as an alternative to a rocket for putting satellites into space,” Smart said.
The experimental rocket in yesterday’s trial reached an altitude of 278km and a target speed of Mach 7.5, the Australian Department of Defence said.
Each test builds on previous ones, with the latest used to measure heat on the outside of a vehicle in hypersonic flight, Smart said.
The next test, scheduled for next year, would involve the scram jet separating from the rocket booster and flying on its own, he added.
The first test was conducted in 2009 with the project expected to be completed in 2018.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was