University of Virginia researchers have sent the heartiest of congratulations to their colleagues at NASA following the successful third and final flight of the Hyper-X (X-43A) Program. On November 16, 2004, NASA set a new world record in demonstrating successful operation of a scramjet powered aircraft at Mach 10, or ten times the speed of sound. This is approximately 6800 mph. Researchers, Profs. Chris Goyne and Jim McDaniel of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at The University of Virginia, have been collaborating with the Hyper-X Program for the past six years, conducting wind tunnel experiments on scramjet combustion.

The Hyper-X Program has been conducted jointly by NASA Langley Research Center and Dryden Flight Research Center. "We are very excited for our colleagues at NASA," said Prof. Goyne, "NASA is to be congratulated on a job well done." In demonstrating scramjet propulsion at Mach 10, NASA researchers have proven that hypersonic air-breathing flight is possible at very high Mach numbers. Hypersonic refers to flight at Mach numbers of 5 and above. Scramjets may one day be used for hypersonic global transport or space launch vehicles. At Mach 10, a flight between New York and Los Angeles, for instance, would take only 20 minutes. Scramjets, or supersonic combustion ram jet engines, offer the potential of more affordable and safer propulsion than other options currently available for hypersonic flight, such as conventional rocket engines.

NASA's success follows on the heels of another successful flight in March, 2004, in which the agency demonstrated operation of a Hyper-X scramjet at Mach 7, or approximately 4800 mph. "The University of Virginia has worked closely with NASA in the past on scramjet research," said Prof. McDaniel. "We have accumulated 21 years of experience in our work with NASA Langley and we would like to think that we contributed in a small way to their success," he added. Profs. Goyne and McDaniel operate a high temperature, high speed wind tunnel at the University of Virginia's Aerospace Research Laboratory. This wind tunnel simulates the harsh conditions inside a scramjet operating at flight Mach numbers near 5.

The researchers and their students have been developing diagnostics to measure the combustion processes that take place inside a scramjet. "This data is being used by NASA to improve the accuracy of computer simulations of scramjet combustors, so that future scramjet designs will perform better and be safer," said Prof. Goyne. Both researchers noted that, in light of NASA's budget constraints, the agency is currently considering follow-on programs now that the Hyper-X Program has reached its conclusion. "We are hopeful that NASA will be able to find the funds to support future scramjet research and really build on this recent success," said Prof. McDaniel.

Further details on this work can be obtained from Prof. Chris Goyne (goyne@virginia.edu, 434-982-5355) or Prof. Jim McDaniel (jcm@virginia.edu, 434-924-6293), at the University of Virginia. Photographs available on request.