PDA

View Full Version : X-41 Common Aero Vehicle



The One
4th May 2011, 09:52
X-41 is the designation for a still-classified U.S. military spaceplane. Specifications or photos of the program have not been released to the public yet; as a result not much is known about its goals. It has been described as an experimental maneuvering re-entry vehicle capable of transporting a 1,000 lb payload on a sub-orbital trajectory at hypersonic speeds and releasing that payload into the atmosphere. The technology required for the X-41 is not yet known and is still undecided by the government. It is believed a new type of hypersonic travel is also being studied for the X-41

I cant find any pictures of this.

This vehicle is now a part of FALCON (Force Application and Launch from Continental United States) program sponsored by DARPA and NASA

http://www.darpa.mil/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2685

Muzz
4th May 2011, 10:13
Hi The One

Found this for you :)

Falcon CAV/HTV

After a Phase I evaluation of four competing CAV/HTV design proposals, Lockheed Martin received the sole Phase II contract in August 2004 to develop and build the HTVs for the Falcon program. The initial HTV design (HTV-1) was planned to be flight tested using an existing booster in September 2007, and was to reach a speed of Mach 19 at 30-45 km (19-28 miles) altitude. However, in May 2006 the construction of two HTV-1 vehicles was cancelled because subcontractor C-CAT had severe problems with delamination of the curved leading edges of the vehicle's aeroshell. The Falcon program will instead proceed directly to the HTV-2 (q.v. below).

http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/htv-1.jpg
HTV-1

Phase III of the Falcon program, originally planned to run from 2007 to 2010, is going to further develop the HTV and integrate it with the SLV. The second and third generation HTV designs (HTV-2 and HTV-3) are to incorporate further improved aerodynamic configurations, thermal protection systems, guidance, navigation and control systems. The vehicles are going to be about 3.5-4.5 m long and weigh about 900 kg. HTV-1 through -3 designs have an increasingly "waverider-like" shape for increased L/D (lift/drag), increasing flight duration and re-entry cross range. HTV-2 will be an expendable Mach 20+ design, but HTV-3 will be a fully reusable vehicle with a design speed of about Mach 10 at 40000 m (130000 ft). Although HTV-1 and -2 are unpowered designs, it's possible that the reusable HTV-3 will use a scramjet engine. At the time of this writing, two HTV-2 launches (HTV-2a and HTV-2b) are planned for 2009. The boosters will be Orbital Sciences Minotaur IV 4-stage rockets. A launch schedule for HTV-3, and whether this vehicle will actually use one of the Falcon SLV boosters, has not been published so far.

http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/darpa-htv.jpg
DARPA HCV design concept

Source
http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/x-41.html

And this as well
http://www.spacex.com/falcon1.php

The One
4th May 2011, 10:18
Great thanks Muzz

Muzz
4th May 2011, 10:24
No probs mate.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM_XTwtfSgo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MhtLWB0dJ8&feature=related