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LoFLYTE
LoFlyte (Low Observable Flight Test Experiment) is a supersonic / hypersonic unmanned technology demonstrator stealth aircraft, designed in a joint effort between the US Air Force and NASA to test the characteristics of hypersonic vehicles at low speeds and low altitudes. It first flew in 1996. Built by Accurate Automation. See also * NASA X-43 * Boeing X-51 The Boeing X-51 Waverider is an unmanned research scramjet experimental aircraft for hypersonic flight at and an altitude of . The aircraft was designated X-51 in 2005. It completed its first powered hypersonic flight on 26 May 2010. After tw ... References Hypersonic aircraft Unmanned stealth aircraft {{aviation-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supersonic
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) are often referred to as hypersonic. Flights during which only some parts of the air surrounding an object, such as the ends of rotor blades, reach supersonic speeds are called transonic. This occurs typically somewhere between Mach 0.8 and Mach 1.2. Sounds are traveling vibrations in the form of pressure waves in an elastic medium. Objects move at supersonic speed when the objects move faster than the speed at which sound propagates through the medium. In gases, sound travels longitudinally at different speeds, mostly depending on the molecular mass and temperature of the gas, and pressure has little effect. Since air temperature and composition varies significantly with altitude, the speed of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypersonic
In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds five times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since individual physical changes in the airflow (like molecular dissociation and ionization) occur at different speeds; these effects collectively become important around Mach 5–10. The hypersonic regime can also be alternatively defined as speeds where specific heat capacity changes with the temperature of the flow as kinetic energy of the moving object is converted into heat. Characteristics of flow While the definition of hypersonic flow can be quite vague and is generally debatable (especially because of the absence of discontinuity between supersonic and hypersonic flows), a hypersonic flow may be characterized by certain physical phenomena that can no longer be analytically discounted as in supersonic flow. The peculiarities in hyperso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unmanned Aircraft
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human Aircraft pilot, pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone Warfare; 2024. e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-074203-9.H. Pan; M. Zahmatkesh; F. Rekabi-Bana; F. Arvin; J. HuT-STAR: Time-Optimal Swarm Trajectory Planning for Quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 2025. UAVs were originally developed through the twentieth century for military missions too "dull, dirty or dangerous" for humans, and by the twenty-first, they had become essential assets to most militaries. As control technologies improved and costs fell, their use expanded to many non-military applications. These include aerial photography, area coverage,F. Rekabi-Bana; Hu, J.; T. Krajník; Arvin, F.,Unified Robust Path Planning and Optimal Trajectory Generation for Efficient 3D A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Technology Demonstrator
A technology demonstration (or tech demo), also known as demonstrator model, is a prototype, rough example or otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of showcasing the possible applications, feasibility, performance and method of an idea for a new technology. They can be used as demonstrations to the investors, partners, journalists or even to potential customers in order to convince them of the viability of the chosen approach, or to test them on ordinary users. Computers and gaming Technology demonstrations are often used in the computer industry, emerging as an important tool in response to short development cycles in software and hardware development. * Computer game developers use tech demos to rouse and maintain interest to titles still in development (because game engines are usually ready before the art is finished) and to ensure functionality by early testing. Short segments using ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stealth Aircraft
Stealth aircraft are designed to avoid detection using a variety of technologies that reduce reflection/emission of radar, infrared, visible light, radio frequency (RF) spectrum, and audio, collectively known as stealth technology. The F-117 Nighthawk was the first operational aircraft explicitly designed around stealth technology. Other examples of stealth aircraft include the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, B-2 Spirit, the B-21 Raider, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, F-22 Raptor, the F-35 Lightning II, the Chengdu J-20, and the Sukhoi Su-57. While no aircraft is completely invisible to radar, stealth aircraft make it more difficult for conventional radar to detect or track the aircraft effectively, increasing the odds of an aircraft avoiding detection by enemy radar and/or avoiding being successfully targeted by Semi-active radar guidance, radar guided weapons. Stealth is a combination of passive low observable (LO) features and active emitters such as low-probability-of-interc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
US Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established by transfer of personnel from the Army Air Forces with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest branch of the United States Armed Forces and the fourth in United States order of precedence, order of precedence. The United States Air Force articulates its core missions as air supremacy, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, airlift, rapid global mobility, Strategic bombing, global strike, and command and control. The United States Department of the Air Force, Department of the Air Force, which serves as the USAF's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States's civil list of government space agencies, space program, aeronautics research and outer space, space research. National Aeronautics and Space Act, Established in 1958, it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the American space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo program missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA supports the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Commercial Crew Program and oversees the development of the Orion (spacecraft), Orion spacecraft and the Sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypersonic Flight
Hypersonic flight is flight through the atmosphere below altitudes of about at Hypersonic speed, speeds greater than Mach 5, a speed where Dissociation (chemistry), dissociation of air begins to become significant and high heat loads exist. Speeds over Mach 25 have been achieved below the thermosphere as of 2020. Hypersonic vehicles are able to maneuver through the atmosphere in a #Weapons, non-parabolic trajectory, but their aerodynamic heat loads need to be managed. History The first manufactured object to achieve hypersonic flight was the two-stage RTV-G-4 Bumper, Bumper rocket, consisting of a WAC Corporal second stage set on top of a V-2 rocket, V-2 first stage. In February 1949, at White Sands V-2 Launching Site, White Sands, the rocket reached a speed of , or about Mach 6.7. The vehicle, however, burned on atmospheric re-entry, and only charred remnants were found. In April 1961, Russian Major Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel at hypersonic speed, dur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA X-43
The NASA X-43 was an experimental unmanned hypersonic aircraft with multiple planned scale variations meant to test various aspects of hypersonic flight. It was part of the X-plane series and specifically of NASA's Hyper-X program developed in the late 1990s. It set several airspeed records for jet aircraft. The X-43 is the fastest jet-powered aircraft on record at approximately Mach 9.6.Thompson, Elvia, Keith Henry and Leslie Williams"Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: Guinness Recognizes NASA Scramjet." ''NASA.'' Retrieved: August 1, 2011. A winged booster rocket with the X-43 placed on top, called a "stack", was drop launched from a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. After the booster rocket (a modified first stage of the Pegasus rocket) brought the stack to the target speed and altitude, it was discarded, and the X-43 flew free using its own engine, a scramjet. The first plane in the series, the X-43A, was a single-use vehicle, of which three were built. The first X-43A was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boeing X-51
The Boeing X-51 Waverider is an unmanned research scramjet experimental aircraft for hypersonic flight at and an altitude of . The aircraft was designated X-51 in 2005. It completed its first powered hypersonic flight on 26 May 2010. After two unsuccessful test flights, the X-51 completed a flight of over six minutes and reached speeds of over Mach 5 for 210 seconds on 1 May 2013 for the longest duration powered hypersonic flight. ''Waverider'' refers in general to aircraft that take advantage of compression lift produced by their own shock waves. The X-51 program was a cooperative effort by the United States Air Force, DARPA, NASA, Boeing, and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. The program was managed by the Aerospace Systems Directorate within the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Design and development In the 1990s, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) began the HyTECH program for hypersonic propulsion. Pratt & Whitney received a contract from the AFRL to develo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypersonic Aircraft
Hypersonic flight is flight through the atmosphere below altitudes of about at Hypersonic speed, speeds greater than Mach 5, a speed where Dissociation (chemistry), dissociation of air begins to become significant and high heat loads exist. Speeds over Mach 25 have been achieved below the thermosphere as of 2020. Hypersonic vehicles are able to maneuver through the atmosphere in a #Weapons, non-parabolic trajectory, but their aerodynamic heat loads need to be managed. History The first manufactured object to achieve hypersonic flight was the two-stage RTV-G-4 Bumper, Bumper rocket, consisting of a WAC Corporal second stage set on top of a V-2 rocket, V-2 first stage. In February 1949, at White Sands V-2 Launching Site, White Sands, the rocket reached a speed of , or about Mach 6.7. The vehicle, however, burned on atmospheric re-entry, and only charred remnants were found. In April 1961, Russian Major Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel at hypersonic speed, dur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
