US Hypersonic Plane Lost on Trial Flight?

TheUSwas testing an unmanned plane today capable of going 20 times the speed of sound. Reportedly, DARPA has lost track of the plane and it is considered to be a complete loss at this time. Here is the latest information on the project:

“Pentagon’s Hypersonic Plane Goes Missing. A test flight of the Falcon HTV-2, a hypersonic plane capable of reaching speeds roughly 20 times the speed of sound, ended unexpectedly early on Thursday when ground controllers lost contact with the arrowhead-shaped plane less than half an hour after it took to the skies. Launched at 7:45 a.m. Pacific Time from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, northwest ofSanta Barbara, the aircraft soared to the upper reaches of the atmosphere[This content is for MEMBERS ONLY. Please click Subscribe in the upper right corner to continue.]

Posted by karen on Aug 12 2011. Filed under Special Interest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry