Revolutionary jet engine tested: HyShot III
Another small step in jet engine testing, but a giant leap in mankind’s quest to travel around the globe in a matter of hours. HyShot III, designed by the British, was tested yesterday in Australia and the top speed it clocked was Mach 7.6 (about 9,000 km/h). It will be followed soon by the test flight of another Hyshot engine designed by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa). This will be followed in June by the launch of an engine that will fly at Mach 10, designed by the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO).
What is so special about HyShot III?
Unlike conventional rocket which carries its own load of oxygen to burn fuel, scramjet sucks in atmospheric oxygen flowing at hypersonic speed to burn hydrogen fuel. In short, it combines the best of jet and rocket technologies- the ability to tap oxygen from the air and the speed of rockets. Scramjets have the potential to carry bigger loads as compared to conventional rockets.
In the first instance, scramjets would probably be used to launch satellites into low-Earth orbit. But the success of this launch raised new hopes for future travellers to have an ultra fast, intercontinental travel. How fast is then scramjets as compared to current planes? Well, just imagine that you leave Sydney at 1200 hours and at 1400 hours, you will be in London. Although such successes should be lauded, I believe that it will take many many years before the scramjet is used in commercial planes. So, for the moment, just enjoy your nonstop flight of 19 hours.
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