Previous Discussions about the Waverider:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5653515

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4387725

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1383627

A story timeline would be a neat feature for HN.

I think the more amazing part of this story is that it was launched from a b-52 which has been in service for over 50 years! Talk about engineering longevity.

There are B-52 pilots today whose grandfathers also flew the aircraft in service.

When I read about the sound barrier I got lost in the amount of things that can be learned.

One being that it isn't just a simple thing speed up an airplane to faster than we have before. They have different designs because the air acts differently as the speed changes and doesn't function the same. Seeing how the shape (overall but especially the nose) changes for each type is pretty cool.

A lot of the articles get linked off here if you have an interest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersonic

Would someone change the title to Mach 5.1 rather than the unconventional unit of 3000 mph?

Congratulations on a successful test flight. Aircraft that fly up to Mach 10 can still use radio communication. That wasn't the case with the Falcon Project's HTV-2. I guess the Air Force wants a GPS-guided hypersonic cruise missile.

I'm not sure where you got this fact, but HTV-2 had two independent RF communication systems and flew close to Mach 20.

I do agree with you that the Air Force wants hypersonic flight vehicles. Looks like air-breathing hypersonics are the priority.

Past Mach 10, a layer of plasma is formed on the leading surface of the aircraft, which RF cannot traverse. This is also why atmospheric reentry occurs in a blackout. There's a good explanation of the phenomenon here:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=piercing-th...