It's the 20th anniversary of the X-43A record speed flight! ⭐ NASA’s X-43A experimental aircraft set the world speed record for a jet-powered aircraft 20 years ago on Nov. 16, 2004. The flight originated from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The B-52B carried a Pegasus rocket under its wing, and the X-43A was attached to the rocket’s nose. Once in position over the Pacific Ocean, the rocket air-launched and its engine fired, and once in position, the X-43A’s engine

NASA took a major step toward redefining high-speed flight on Nov. 16, 2004. The X-43A, a small, experimental aircraft, proved that an engine drawing oxygen from the atmosphere could propel an aircraft to hypersonic speeds – greater than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. During the flight over the Pacific Ocean west of California, the X-43A set the world speed record for a jet-powered aircraft, reaching Mach 9.6, or nearly 7,000 mph. The mission originated from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Re

Welcome to Warbird Wednesday! Today we’re paying a special visit to the Hypersonic X-43A, also known as the Hyper-X. The concepts of Mach 10 travel played a major role in "Top Gun: Maverick." The X-43A was an experimental unmanned hypersonic aircraft, which would be drop-launched from a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress and would fly free using its own engine, a scramjet. The X-43A is the fastest jet-powered aircraft, reaching a record speed of Mach 9.6. These are single-use aircrafts with only three e