US military’s experimental hypersonic weapon explodes seconds after launch

originally posted by: 12m8keall2c

originally posted by: cloaked4u

rockets are old school. Seeing the lightning in the pic. I would immagine that maybe someone forgot to install a static electric ground in the back of the plane since it travels at high speed. Maybe the static electricity made the fuel ignite. AND BOOOOOM. Lets get out the marshmellows. mmmm mmmm. Another drone down. Drone hawk down. Don't forget to install the static electric ground next time.

The title here is quite misleading.

It didn't explode. The launch/launch vehicle were terminated around the 4 second mark. They blew it up intentionally.

The way it flies gives up data about its capabilities to anyone tracking its motion.

The United States has more experience and data about motion through the air than any other country, so the full trip wasn't needed.

The launch was enough to test the strength of the design.

a reply to: rickymouse

'failures' often lead to increased learning curve, and contribute to an eventual success ...

a reply to: Segenam

If I make a mistake when building a house, I can't charge the person extra. Now when these companies make mistakes, they get more work and are payed for their mistakes one way or another.

Why do they get paid when they mess up on a contract?

a reply to: Semicollegiate

Except the launch wouldn't tell you crap about the design. The hypersonic vehicle is separate from the rocket.

a reply to: rickymouse

Because building a hypersonic platform, or an aircraft for that matter is a lot harder than building a house. If it was easy anyone could do it.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: rickymouse

Because building a hypersonic platform, or an aircraft for that matter is a lot harder than building a house. If it was easy anyone could do it.

But do we really need it? Do we really need to build these weapons worldwide? Can't we just get rid of the people who want to build them instead? Wouldn't it be cheaper to get rid of all the people who want to control the world?

I know, but that pipe dream just keeps popping into my consciousness.

originally posted by: rickymouse

Why do they get paid when they mess up on a contract?

depends on whether it is determined to have been a manufacturing defect or design flaw.??

a reply to: rickymouse

Roger that.
I'll bring my own

What this world would look like if majority of money which is used for milatary technology and weaponary, instead would be invested in space exploration and science. This is B.S.

a reply to: SevenAlavo

And do you realize just how much of what we take for granted every day came from military applications?

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Semicollegiate

Except the launch wouldn't tell you crap about the design. The hypersonic vehicle is separate from the rocket.

That is true, but also true is that

It will be more effective if the enemy doesn't know its characteristics.

The composition of atmosphere and space around the Earth space is very well known and can be created artificially for the design process.

a reply to: Semicollegiate

Except that you still have to prove that it works in the real world. That means actual flight tests, in the actual atmosphere.

my thoughts have been such that they simply terminated the mission early on to avoid any other's sensors/sats, etc. from garnering potentially valuable asset/information/data.

???

a reply to: 12m8keall2c

For what purpose? Four seconds in it's so close to the ground that you damage the pad, which is exactly what happened. Up until separation, it's just a rocket flying, so you could detonate it at any point.

a reply to: Zaphod58

's pretty much what i was getting at...

kill it before it can even possibly gain a 'signature', per se.

a reply to: 12m8keall2c

But prior to vehicle separation the signature is only of the rocket, not the hypersonic vehicle. You can use just about any rocket to get it up to speed, so you can change the rocket signature almost at will.