Super Secret Hypersonic Aircraft Flew Out of Its Skin

papz · 04-23-2012, 07:54 PM

It turns out that tearing through the atmosphere at 20 times the speed of sound is bad for the skin, even if you're a super high-tech aircraft developed by the government's best engineers at its far-out research agency.

DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, has made public its best guess about what might have caused its unmanned arrowhead-shaped Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV-2) to suddenly lose contact and crash in the Pacific just a few minutes after slicing through the sky at Mach 20 last August: it was going so fast its skin peeled off.

After an eight-month investigation, DARPA concluded that even though the HTV-2 was expected to lose some of its skin mid-flight, "larger than anticipated portions of the vehicle's skin peeled from the aerostructure," the agency said in a statement Friday.

The agency said it expected the HTV-2, which goes so fast it can make the commute from New York to Los Angeles in 12 minutes, to experience "impulsive shock waves" at such speeds, but shocks it experienced last August were "more than 100 times what the vehicle was designed to withstand."

While the test was very public, the details of the HTV-2's design, stability system and potential purpose remain highly classified.

Two months after DARPA's test, the Army tested its own hypersonic aircraft - this one a long-range weapon system called the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) designed to strike any target in the world in just a couple hours.

Super Secret Hypersonic Aircraft Flew Out of Its Skin - Yahoo! News

How sick is that?

saintfan · 04-23-2012, 11:12 PM

spooky

Halo · 04-24-2012, 12:41 AM

In other news, ESPN is reporting that the ENTIRE DOME PATROL (except Sam Mills (RIP)) disguised themselves as mechanics and loosened the bolts of the DARPA vehicle skin so it fell off in re-entry.

The FBI, CIA and Roger Goodell have made statements they are aware of the situation.

SmashMouth · 04-24-2012, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by papz

It turns out that tearing through the atmosphere at 20 times the speed of sound is bad for the skin, even if you're a super high-tech aircraft developed by the government's best engineers at its far-out research agency.

After an eight-month investigation, DARPA concluded that even though the HTV-2 was expected to lose some of its skin mid-flight, "larger than anticipated portions of the vehicle's skin peeled from the aerostructure," the agency said in a statement Friday.

How sick is that?

.... for a sec, I thought you were talking about condoms ....

Halo · 04-24-2012, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by SmashMouth

.... for a sec, I thought you were talking about condoms ....

Smashmouth, you're such a SICKO!!!

04-23-2012, 07:54 PM	#1
papz Problem? Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: New Orleans Posts: 11,794	Super Secret Hypersonic Aircraft Flew Out of Its Skin It turns out that tearing through the atmosphere at 20 times the speed of sound is bad for the skin, even if you're a super high-tech aircraft developed by the government's best engineers at its far-out research agency. DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, has made public its best guess about what might have caused its unmanned arrowhead-shaped Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV-2) to suddenly lose contact and crash in the Pacific just a few minutes after slicing through the sky at Mach 20 last August: it was going so fast its skin peeled off. After an eight-month investigation, DARPA concluded that even though the HTV-2 was expected to lose some of its skin mid-flight, "larger than anticipated portions of the vehicle's skin peeled from the aerostructure," the agency said in a statement Friday. The agency said it expected the HTV-2, which goes so fast it can make the commute from New York to Los Angeles in 12 minutes, to experience "impulsive shock waves" at such speeds, but shocks it experienced last August were "more than 100 times what the vehicle was designed to withstand." While the test was very public, the details of the HTV-2's design, stability system and potential purpose remain highly classified. Two months after DARPA's test, the Army tested its own hypersonic aircraft - this one a long-range weapon system called the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) designed to strike any target in the world in just a couple hours. Super Secret Hypersonic Aircraft Flew Out of Its Skin - Yahoo! News How sick is that?
	Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege. All little common sense goes a long way.

04-24-2012, 12:41 AM	#3
Halo Site Donor MONTHLY Join Date: May 2002 Location: New Orleans, LA Posts: 20,903 Blog Entries: 45	In other news, ESPN is reporting that the ENTIRE DOME PATROL (except Sam Mills (RIP)) disguised themselves as mechanics and loosened the bolts of the DARPA vehicle skin so it fell off in re-entry. The FBI, CIA and Roger Goodell have made statements they are aware of the situation. saintfan likes this.

04-24-2012, 10:24 AM	#4
SmashMouth I donated, did you? Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Mandeville, LA Posts: 38,970 Blog Entries: 29	Originally Posted by papz It turns out that tearing through the atmosphere at 20 times the speed of sound is bad for the skin, even if you're a super high-tech aircraft developed by the government's best engineers at its far-out research agency. After an eight-month investigation, DARPA concluded that even though the HTV-2 was expected to lose some of its skin mid-flight, "larger than anticipated portions of the vehicle's skin peeled from the aerostructure," the agency said in a statement Friday. How sick is that? .... for a sec, I thought you were talking about condoms .... Halo, saintfan and pherein like this.

04-24-2012, 12:59 PM	#5
Halo Site Donor MONTHLY Join Date: May 2002 Location: New Orleans, LA Posts: 20,903 Blog Entries: 45	Originally Posted by SmashMouth .... for a sec, I thought you were talking about condoms .... Smashmouth, you're such a SICKO!!!

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04-23-2012, 11:12 PM	#2
saintfan Donated Plasma Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 18,556 Blog Entries: 5	spooky