The Scientific Phoenix; UE EngStartUp, academic year 2013-2014

NASA's X-43A and its Scramjet

NASA's X-43 its an experimental un-manned aircraft impulsed by a scramjet engine, which is designed to fly at speeds faster than Mach 10. It is part of the program Hyper- X  of experimental aircraft from NASA.

The first data obtained by the experimental vehicle of scramjet "feeding" demonstrated that its revolutionary engine worked succesfully nearly to Match 9.8 which is 11 265 km/h, while flying at a height of 33 000 metres.

Scramjet engines have no mobile parts, and compressess the air that passes through it, in such a way that combustion can happen. Another advantage in favour of the scramjet is that it has a valve that can regulate the fuel supply just how conventional aircraft do and unlike rockets, which produce a maximum propulsion while there is still fuel left.

A disadvantage of the scramjet engine is that it cant start by them selfes and needs to be accelerated by another aircraft untill a minimum speed of Match 3, or the scramjet aircraft could have an hybrid engine that could work has a turboreactor for take-off and landing, and as scramjet during the flight. Unfortunately this does not exist nowadays