SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. government research lab has
come up a new design for a hypersonic aircraft which could travel between any two cities
on Earth in less than two hours by literally ``skipping'' across the atmosphere.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory announced Thursday that the new aircraft design
dubbed ``HyperSoar'', could fly at about 6,700 mph , or Mach 10, and would experience far less
heat build-up on its airframe than previous designs.
``We believe we have developed a design that not only
addresses the primary issues in building hypersonic aircraft, but does so in a way that
creates a number of different uses for HyperSoar, thereby helping offset its development
costs,'' said Preston Carter, the Livermore aerospace engineer who developed the HyperSoar
concept.
Carter said the key to HyperSoar would be its
``skipping'' motion along the edge of Earth's atmosphere, much as a rock is skipped across
water.
After ascending to roughly 130,000 feet, just outside
the atmosphere, the aircraft would turn off its air-breathing engine and coast back to the
atmospheric edge. There, it would quickly fire its engines again and ``skip'' back into
space.
``A commercial flight from the midwestern United
States to Japan would require approximately 25 such skips to complete the
one-and-a-half-hour journey,'' the Livermore research team said in a news release.
Passengers aboard the HyperSoar aircraft would not
get quite the smooth ride that today's commercial airline passengers enjoy, however.
Carter said that those aboard the aircraft would feel
1.5 times the force of gravity at the bottom of each ``skip'', and weightlessness at the
top.
``The average passenger would probably put up with
the slight roller coaster motion if it gets them from San Francisco to Tokyo in less than
two hours, rather than ten-and-a-half,'' Carter said.
The HyperSoar concept would power the aircraft with
normal, air-breathing engines rather than rockets, and the time the aircraft spends in
space could sharply cut heat build-up on the frame -- which has been a major drawback in
previous hypersonic aircraft design.
The Livermore group, which estimated that it would
take a total investment of almost $500 million to research and built a one-third scale
flyable prototype of the HyperSoar, said the aircraft would quickly prove its value.
Along with enabling much swifter, if bumpier,
passenger flights, HyperSoar could also be used for fast and frequent cargo delivery. One
analysis said a HyperSoar flying express mail between Los Angeles and Tokyo could generate
ten times the daily revenue of a similarly-sized subsonic cargo plane.
HyperSoar could also benefit the military, the
researcher said, noting that it would enable speedy military strikes ``from an altitude
and at a speed that defies all current defensive measures.''
Finally, the scientists proposed that HyperSoar could
prove a boon to the space program as the first stage of a two-stage launch process, moving
objects to just outside the Earth's atmosphere from which point then can be guided into
their final orbits.
``Research shows this approach will allow
approximately twice the payload-to-orbit as today's expendable launch systems for a given
gross takeoff weight,'' the group said.
DoE
Announces New Hypersonic Design
Livermore - September 15, 1998 - A
revolutionary design for a hypersonic aircraft that could fly
between any two points on the globe in less than two hours has
been developed by a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy's
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Dubbed HyperSoar -- the design was featured in the Sept
7 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology. HyperSoar could
fly at approximately 6,700 mph (Mach 10), while carrying roughly
twice the payload of subsonic aircraft of the same takeoff weight.
The HyperSoar concept promises less heat build-up on the
airframe than previous hypersonic designs -- a challenge that has
until now limited the development of hypersonic aircraft.
Skipping Over The Atmosphere
The key to HyperSoar is the skipping motion of its
flight along the edge of Earth's atmosphere -- much like a rock
skipped across water. A HyperSoar aircraft would ascend to
approximately 130,000 feet -- lofting outside the Earth's
atmosphere -- then turn off its engines and coast back to the
surface of the atmosphere. There, it would again fire its
air-breathing engines and skip back into space. The craft would
repeat this process until it reached its destination.
A commercial flight from the midwestern United States to
Japan would require approximately 25 such skips to complete the
one-and-a-half-hour journey. The aircraft's angles of descent and
ascent during the skips would only be 5 degrees. Passengers would
feel 1.5 times the force of gravity at the bottom of each skip and
weightlessness while in space. (1.5 Gs is comparable to the effect
felt on a child's swing, though HyperSoar's motion would be 100
times slower.)
"We believe we have developed a design that not
only addresses the primary issues in building hypersonic aircraft,
but does so in a way that creates a number of different uses for
HyperSoar, thereby helping offset its development costs,"
said Livermore aerospace engineer Preston Carter, developer of the
HyperSoar concept.
"An aircraft with the speed, range and lift of
HyperSoar could revolutionize intercontinental flight and access
to space."
Potential applications for
HyperSoar aircraft are varied:
Passenger aircraft -- A commercial HyperSoar airliner or
business jet could reach any destination on the planet from the
continental U.S. in two hours or less. Freighter -- A HyperSoar
freight aircraft could make four or more roundtrips to, say, Tokyo
each day from the U.S. versus one or less for today's aircraft.
Analysis indicates a HyperSoar aircraft flying express mail
between Los Angeles and Tokyo could generate ten times the daily
revenue of a similarly- sized subsonic cargo plane of today.
Military aircraft -- A HyperSoar bomber the size of a B-52 could
take off from the U.S. and deliver its payload to any point on the
globe -- from an altitude and at a speed that defies all current
defensive measures -- and return to the U.S. without the need for
refueling or forward bases on foreign soil. Equipment and
personnel could also be transported. Space lift -- HyperSoar could
be employed as the first stage of a two-stage-to-orbit space
launch system. Research shows this approach will allow
approximately twice the payload-to-orbit as today's expendable
launch systems for a given gross takeoff weight.
HyperSoar Advantages
Most current hypersonic designs rely on rocket engines
to boost the aircraft to the edge of space, from where the craft
essentially glides back down to its destination. Other designs
simply use engines to push the aircraft through the atmosphere.
All previous concepts have suffered from heat buildup on
the surface of the aircraft and in various aircraft components due
to friction with the atmosphere.
A HyperSoar plane would experience less heating because
it would spend much of its flight out of the Earth's atmosphere.
Also, any heat the craft picked up while "skipping" down
into the atmosphere could be at least partially dissipated during
the aircraft's time in the cold of space.
Another HyperSoar advantage is its use of air-breathing
engines. Most conventional hypersonic designs rely on rocket
motors to boost the aircraft to the edge of space. By not boosting
to as high a velocity, and by dropping back into the atmosphere at
the bottom of each "skip," a HyperSoar plane can utilize
air-breathing engines, which are inherently more efficient than
rocket engines. Also, HyperSoar engines would be used strictly as
accelerators, rather than as accelerators and cruising engines --
as in some hypersonic designs -- thereby greatly simplifying the
design and reducing technical risk.
Although the porpoising effect of a HyperSoar flight
might test the adventurousness of some airline passengers, the
Lab's Carter does not see this impacting business travel or
military or space launch applications, and, in fact, he believes
commercial fliers would eventually take to the concept, as well.
"The average passenger will probably put up with
the slight roller coaster motion if it gets them from San
Francisco to Tokyo in less than two hours, rather than
ten-and-a-half," said Carter.
The HyperSoar concept has been under investigation by
Lawrence Livermore for several years and is being discussed with
the U.S. Air Force and other government agencies. Livermore has
been working with the University of Maryland's Department of
Aerospace Engineering to refine the aerodynamic and trajectory
technologies associated with the concept.
Carter estimates that approximately $140 million would
need to be spent over the next few years to advance several
technologies to the point where a $350 million one-third-scale
flyable prototype could be built and tested. Carter estimates the
development cost of full-scaled HyperSoar aircraft to be about the
same as spent to develop the Boeing Company's new 777.
DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed
by the University of California.
Related Links:
HyperSoar
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