Thread: U.S. tests hypersonic weapon

After poking around a bit I see this one is supposed to fly at around Mach 8, which is mighty impressive. I'm hoping they'll try again with the HTV-2, which is expected to fly at around Mach 20. Far better. If that can work then, Good bye bunker.

Originally Posted by Lokiate

Not the V1, and V2, they had designed an experimental aircraft that would make its flights in the stratosphere, and drop it's payload from that height. In theory the delivery aircraft, called the Silbervogel (silver bird), would skip across the currents of the stratosphere traveling at an estimated speed around Mach 2, drop its payload that, from that height would easily reach terminal velocity, then glide into the Japanese held territories before anybody knew wtf had happened. Thankfully, they were never able to build it.

The Germans had a lot of fantastical "Buck Rogers" kind of projects. Most of them went nowhere, or ended in failure. Hitler surely had a complex, because the Germans went over the top in just about anything they planned. I mean, who else builds 300 mm cannons, 200 ton tanks with 128mm main guns, and cruisers with battleship guns?

Originally Posted by Lokiate

Eugen Sänger, who designed the Silbervogel, was very instrumental in the creation of the Space Shuttle, and his work influenced designs for other experimental aircraft. Operation Paperclip apparently continues to pay off.

I wonder if anybody else other then you or I even know what Paperclip is. Being both a Space and History nut, I loved my chance out in White Sands to get to see many of those old launch sites. Every time I had to drive from one site to another, I took a different route so I could see as much as possible.

Originally Posted by Oozlefinch

The Germans had a lot of fantastical "Buck Rogers" kind of projects. Most of them went nowhere, or ended in failure. Hitler surely had a complex, because the Germans went over the top in just about anything they planned. I mean, who else builds 300 mm cannons, 200 ton tanks with 128mm main guns, and cruisers with battleship guns?

I guess Germans have tiny dicks. Plus, with the materials of the era, I doubt the Silbervogel would have done anything but get ripped apart from the immense pressures of stratospheric flight at Mach 2 speeds.

I wonder if anybody else other then you or I even know what Paperclip is. Being both a Space and History nut, I loved my chance out in White Sands to get to see many of those old launch sites. Every time I had to drive from one site to another, I took a different route so I could see as much as possible.

I'm sure there are others, but not many. Kinda torn on how to feel about, but it happened, so **** it. WSMR was a pretty amazing place. Every day after COB, I'd go for a hike in the desert. It's really beautiful, but unfortunately, there isn't much else to do there. Before I left, the Post CSM pretty much made it clear that all the money for cool new things was to go straight into a new gym that nobody asked for. ****in Army.