35 articles
Rockwell X-30
The Rockwell X-30 was a planned American experimental aircraft, part of the National Aero-Space Plane program, intended to reach orbit using scramjet engines; Congress canceled it in 1994.
Scramjet
A scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) is an airbreathing jet engine that burns fuel in supersonic airflow, pursued since the 1950s for hypersonic flight up to at least Mach 15.
Shock layer
A shock layer is the layer of hot, compressed gas trapped between a bow shock wave and a hypersonic vehicle's surface, above Mach 5, and governs the vehicle's heating.
Tupolev Tu-95LAL (Ту-95ЛАЛ)
The Tupolev Tu-95LAL (Ту-95ЛАЛ) was a Soviet experimental aircraft, a modified Tu-95M bomber, that flew an operating nuclear reactor in 34 test flights between May and August 1961.
Waverider (hypersonic aircraft)
A waverider is a hypersonic aircraft shape designed to ride on its own attached shock wave, first formulated by Terrence Nonweiler in 1959 and flown by the X-51A.