National Research Into High-Speed Flight Technology

A new research facility "down under" will be the country's primary center for studying hypersonic aerodynamics, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

For the hypersonically challenged, hypersonic speeds are generally regarded as speeds of Mach 5 (5 times the speed of sound) and above.

University of Queensland and the USAF signed a $66 million research agreement with the Queensland headquarters of the Defense Science and Technology Organization (DSTO) in November. Up to 10 hypersonic flight experiments will be conducted over the next five years under the agreement.

Australia's chief defense scientist, Roger Lough, said research into high-speed flight technology such as scramjets (supersonic combustion ramjet) will now be based in Brisbane.

A scramjets, again for the supersonically challenged, is a type of engine designed to operate at the high speeds normally associated with rocket propulsion.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defense Peter Lindsay says the new facility will lead the world in new transport systems.

"From here, there is the opportunity now through the collaboration with the United States Air Force to further develop this technology so that, who knows, in the next couple of decades we might be flying to London in just a couple of hours," he said.

FMI: www.uq.edu.au/hypersonics, www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/BGH/index.html