Friday, August 12, 2011

That's gotta hurt (USA version)

I love technology and I wander around various scientific sites looking to see what the future will bring, some things are boldly announced (cold fusion) only to vanish without trace and some are predicted on an almost monthly basis only to never quite seem to make it off the drawing board (fusion power) Others like the first hypersonic plane have reached the test stage and look to revolutionise transport turning the potential flight time from London to New York to 15 minutes.
However sadly the first test hit a snag, a $300 million snag.
Mail.
It promises to revolutionise air travel, slashing the flying time from London to Sydney to just an hour.
Yesterday the 13,000mph aircraft of the future took off for a crucial test flight.
Within hours however, the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 appeared to have failed the test.
It was launched from a Californian rocket pad to the edge of space and was due to glide back down to Earth at roughly four miles per second.
But all contact was lost and the craft was thought to have crashed.
It was a cruel anti-climax after all the hype, and a case of back to the drawing board for its developers at the Pentagon.
Fortunately this is the USA military we're talking about so they are unlikely just to give up unlike the U.S. government or more likely our own would still $300 million is gonna hurt pretty bad and I'm fairly sure the Senate Military appropriations committee (or whatever it's called) will have something to say about it.
 I hope they carry on with these experiments, the withdrawal of civilian manned space flight means that it's projects like this which will eventually lead us back into space.

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