hypersonic flight
Beyond supersonic speed
Hypersonic flight is travel at speeds exceeding Mach 5—five times the speed of sound, or roughly 3,800 miles per hour.
At these velocities, air behaves differently: extreme friction generates intense heat, and shock waves interact in complex ways.
The term appears in discussions of advanced missiles, spacecraft reentry, and experimental aircraft: The military is developing hypersonic flight capabilities.
- scramjetSupersonic-combustion ramjet
- spaceplaneDual-realm aerospace craft
- reentry vehicleSpacecraft portion surviving atmospheric return
- shock wavePropagating pressure disturbance
- Mach numberRatio to sonic velocity
superalloy · ablative · aerodynamics · glide · missile · nose cone · jet propulsion · boundary layer · thermal stress · titanium alloy · wind tunnel · rocket engine · Mach · aerospace engineering · drag coefficient · velocity · friction · trajectory
hypersonic flightsupersonic flight
Aviation exceeding sound speed
cruising speed · walking speed · snail's pace · gliding · soaring
hypersonic flightballoon flight
Airborne gondola journey
Wright Flyer · glider flight · hot air balloon · early aviation · barnstorming
hypersonic flightstationary
Not in motion
at rest · standstill · grounded · parked · stasis
flight, sonic, supersonic, ultrasonic, hypersonic, sonic boom, hyper-