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The X-43 was an unmanned experimental hypersonic aircraft with multiple planned scale variations meant to test various aspects of hypersonic flight. It was part of the X-plane series and specifically of NASA's Hyper-X program. It set several airspeed records for jet-propelled aircraft. The X-43 is the fastest aircraft on record at approximately .〔Thompson, Elvia, Keith Henry and Leslie Williams. ("Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: Guinness Recognizes NASA Scramjet." ) ''NASA.'' Retrieved: August 1, 2011.〕 A winged booster rocket with the X-43 placed on top, called a "stack", was drop launched from a larger carrier plane. After the booster rocket (a modified first stage of the Pegasus rocket) brought the stack to the target speed and altitude, it was discarded, and the X-43 flew free using its own engine, a scramjet. The first plane in the series, the X-43A, was a single-use vehicle. Three of them were built. The first was destroyed after malfunctioning in flight; the other two have successfully flown, with the scramjet operating for approximately 10 seconds, followed by a 10-minute glide and intentional crash into the ocean. ==Purpose== The X-43 was part of NASA's Hyper-X program, involving the American space agency and contractors such as Boeing, Micro Craft Inc, Orbital Sciences Corporation and General Applied Science Laboratory (GASL). Micro Craft Inc. built the X-43A and GASL built its engine. The Hyper-X Phase I was a NASA Aeronautics and Space Technology Enterprise program being conducted jointly by the Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, and the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. Langley was the lead center and is responsible for hypersonic technology development. Dryden was responsible for flight research. Phase I was a seven-year, approximately $230 million, program to flight-validate scramjet propulsion, hypersonic aerodynamics and design methods. Subsequent phases were not continued as the X-43 series of aircraft was replaced by the X-51. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「NASA X-43」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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