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Second scramjet engine tested in Australian outback:Posted By: Tom Braswell SYDNEY (AFP) - Scientists in Australia have launched a supersonic scramjet engine into space for the second time in a week, as they work towards building a device which could revolutionise air travel.University of Queensland scientists launched a scramjet which reached an altitude of more than 325 kilometres (200 miles) and travelled at a speed of about 7,500 kilometres per hour. The launch, carried out with researchers from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), followed the first blast off at the outback Woomera rocket range last Saturday. "The rocket launch looked as expected, we had another clean liftoff," designer Michael Smart said. Scramjet engines are hi-tech devices which fly above the earth's atmosphere at several times the speed of sound. It is hoped they could ultimately see commercial flight times slashed and be used to cut the cost of launching satellites. The tests are designed to compare the differences between various different engine shapes. A British-designed bullet-shaped engine was tested Saturday while Smart said Thursday's experiment involved an engine shaped like a "series of wedges". Scramjets do not have to carry their own oxygen supplies for combustion and have the advantage of a lack of moving parts. But Smart said the launch of the engines is a problem yet to be overcome as they only start working at about five times the speed of sound. Scientists are aiming to refine the engines to devise one which would be good enough to be incorporated into a vehicle. The scramjet engines being tested weigh about 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and measure 1.5 metres (4.95 foot) long, 0.50 metres high and 0.20 centimetres wide. Courtesy Of: Yahoo! News The information reported above is property of Yahoo! inc. and reprinted or modified with legitimate permission. We thank Yahoo! inc. for the kind cooperation with us and other shareholders. |
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