According to a recent feed from Aljazeera, the United States is working on creating a glider/bomber that can reach speeds over Mach 20. The feed contained a news video in which it was stated that the goal of the United States with this project was to be able to launch a strike anywhere in the world in less than one hour. Unfortunately, as they were testing this vehicle controllers lost contact with it shortly after it detached from its rocket launch system.
The advancement of technology never ceases to amaze me. It was just over 100 years ago that the first successful flights were conducted at Kitty Hawk. 64 years ago Chuck Yeager was the first pilot to ever reach Mach 1. Now we are looking at potentially flying something 20 times faster! I can't help but wonder where technology is headed. Is it inevitable that at some point our progress is going to have to peak or are we on a never-ending journey of continually outdoing ourselves. Today, technology moves so fast that we often are hesitant to purchase computers and cell phones because we know that something better is probably just weeks or months away. If we continue at this pace, the next great thing may only be hours away.
This post was written in response to:
Pentagon Loses Contact With Hypersonic Plane
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/08/201181202844313448.html
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