X-51A Skips Wave Ride Plummets Into Pacific

A test of X-51A Waverider, an unmanned hypersonic test vehicle, ended in failure on Wednesday off the California coast near Point Mugu.  A control fin problem resulted in failed ignition of vehicle's scramjet just seconds after launch.  "Controllers realised they had a problem just 16 seconds after the Wave- rider’s rocket booster engaged. When it detached 15 seconds later, the machine quickly lost control and disintegrated, sending the remains crashed into an area of the Pacific Ocean north-west of Los Angeles...," reports The Independent."This was third test of hypersonic plane. "The first test flight of the experimental jet in 2010 was largely successful, with the Waverider reaching a velocity of five-times the speed of sound for three minutes. A problem with the rocket booster not separating from the main craft sent the second trial falling into the sea last year...With only four of the X-51A vehicles having been built, it is unclear when or if the final model will be used.," adds article. A previous post provides more coverage on X-51A Waverider. We can only hope military fails in bid to launch weapons at hypersonic speeds to reach targets in literally minutes! Please drop below fold to view animation on how Super Combustion Ramjet (Scramjet) works with no moving parts.

x-51a waverider test flight

A test of X-51A set to achieve hypersonic flight today, dropped from under the wing of a B-52, reports Universe Today. You can view the previous May 26, 2010 flight on You Tube, where the X-plane performed for 200 seconds. X-planes are designed to be dropped from under a wing of a B-52. Test fights conducted over the Pacific Ocean take off primarily from Edwards AFB in California. A nice history of the X-Plane program is available on NASA website.

A description of hypersonic plane is provided by US Air Force website:

"...flight test vehicle stack is approximately 25 feet long and includes a modified solid rocket booster from an Army Tactical Missile, a connecting interstage, and the X-51A cruiser... cruiser is designed to ride its own shockwave, thus the nickname, Waverider...distinctive, shark-nosed cruiser... houses the heart of the system, an SJY61 supersonic combustion ramjet or scramjet engine built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne designed to burn JP-7 jet fuel. Boeing's Phantom Works performed overall air vehicle design, assembly and testing for the X-51's various component systems."

A booster allows X-51A to reach sufficient speed, where scramjet engine can fire and ride the wave. It's compared to lighting a match in a hurricane and keeping it lit!

A glimpse of intended use for X-51A is clearly stated in this space.com article, "'we could have in the future such things as hypersonic weapons that fly 600 nautical miles in 10 minutes,' said Charlie Brink, X-51A program manager with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, during a June 1[2010] teleconference. [Most destructive space weapon concepts.]" I feel safer with the knowledge that military can deliver payloads anywhere on planet in just hours! I suspect former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who placed programs under Air Force auspices, is smiling!