HyShot team congratulate NASA on scramjet success

Australian scramjet pioneers today congratulated the NASA team which at the weekend flew an airbreathing scramjet powered aircraft freely for the first time.

Leader of the international HyShot program Professor Allan Paull of The University of Queensland`s Centre for Hypersonics said the NASA experiment was a "terrific advance".

"Our colleagues at NASA have met a new milestone and have been excellent in their abilities," Professor Paull said.

"We understand how they must be feeling and our heartiest congratulations go to them."

On July 31, 2002, the HyShot team achieved success with the world`s first flight test of supersonic combustion, the process used in an air-breathing supersonic ramjet engine, known as a scramjet.

The more modestly funded Australian experiment tested an engine at Mach 7.6 (or more than 8000km an hour) while the new U.S. experiment has powered a plane to similar speeds, of more than Mach 7.

Media: Further information, Professor Allan Paull 07 3365 3783 or Jan King 0413 601 248.