Chinese University Tests Fully Recoverable Hypersonic Winged Rocket (popularmechanics.com) 129
hackingbear shares a report: Xiamen University of China, in partnership with a private aerospace company in Beijing, claims to have launched and landed a hypersonic prototype winged rocket that could travel faster than five times the speed of sound. The success of the experiment means that Chinese engineers are one step closer to building a full-fledged rocket that is capable reaching anywhere in the world within two hours and be recycled.
The rocket, named Jia Geng 1, reached a maximum altitude of 26.2 kilometers (16.3 miles) -- about one-third of the way to space -- before returning to the ground during the landmark launch on Tuesday over Gobi Desert, said the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Xiamen University. The design enables the rocket to ride on two layers of extremely hot gas known as "shock waves" -- one under its belly and the other in the air-inlet duct for its ramjet engine, unlike other experimental hypersonic vehicles such as Boeing's X-51 Waverider which rides on one layer of "shock wave," according to South China Morning Post citing members of the team. The new design has some intriguing advantages: it can make the transition from supersonic to hypersonic speeds more smoothly, create more lift, and allow the aircraft to travel farther using less fuel.
The rocket, named Jia Geng 1, reached a maximum altitude of 26.2 kilometers (16.3 miles) -- about one-third of the way to space -- before returning to the ground during the landmark launch on Tuesday over Gobi Desert, said the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Xiamen University. The design enables the rocket to ride on two layers of extremely hot gas known as "shock waves" -- one under its belly and the other in the air-inlet duct for its ramjet engine, unlike other experimental hypersonic vehicles such as Boeing's X-51 Waverider which rides on one layer of "shock wave," according to South China Morning Post citing members of the team. The new design has some intriguing advantages: it can make the transition from supersonic to hypersonic speeds more smoothly, create more lift, and allow the aircraft to travel farther using less fuel.
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And with anonymous cowards on Slashdot, too!
Re:the US has usless spy agencies (Score:4, Funny)
The US should have known about this years ago
The Air Force runs time travel ops out of Brookhaven National Lab, dumbass; they did know about this years ago.
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Well, the article claims that it was developed in all of seven months. So what you are asking if for prescience!
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A spy agency would be stupid to learn about a secret Chinese project and then broadcast that discovery on the internet, blowing the cover of their spies inside the Chinese project.
The smart thing to do is to use the information to develop your own countermeasures and/or similar projects, which are also kept under wraps until needed.
We could yet see Space Marines (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: We could yet see Space Marines (Score:5, Insightful)
Thoughtful adults, those of us who aren't stuck in a regressive quasi-"liberal" perpetual childhood, realize that this is a nasty world guarded by men with guns and the discussion should be over when and how those guns are deployed. Assassination clearly has some good use cases at least in principle. Millions of lives would've been saved if we could have assassinated Hitler a couple years earlier.
We're using drones with hellfire missiles to kill people right now. Regardless of your opinion on that, a marine or Navy Seal or a Ranger with a
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Assassination clearly has some good use cases at least in principle. Millions of lives would've been saved if we could have assassinated Hitler a couple years earlier.
Wild speculation. https://www.smbc-comics.com/co... [smbc-comics.com]
I would not based any argumentation on such dubious claims.
Planned cold murder is never justifiable. Which doesn't imply that countries should not have a defense mechanism against the crazy and the malevolent, of course.
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If a few years earlier is too butterfly-effect-ish for you, how about a month or two earlier? Given the extermination camps were running up until the las
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And here I thought you were going to go all A Few Good Men [youtu.be] on us.
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Re: We could yet see Space Marines (Score:4, Insightful)
In military and intelligence situations being increasingly dominated by drones, I'm broadly in favor of having tools to put troops on the ground. I sympathize with many arguments that say we should have less military engagement throughout the world (I'm undecided on some and in favor of others, but only with caveats. It's a complicated world. It all strongly depends on our diplomatic goals and strategies.)
I do not think the world becomes a better place by blindly opposing American military technologies, particularly fine-grained stuff like the deployment of special forces. If you think the world automagically becomes a better place by blindly opposing giving our military more tools, you're an idiot.
Re: We could yet see Space Marines (Score:4, Insightful)
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what garbage you spew. the U.S. attacks those that did not attack it for power and profit, causing hundreds of thousands of casualties in the last 3 decades alone. that is not benevolence, it is evil.
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Also would like to know what evil plan you think we were crafting in saving millions of Muslims in Kosovo and Bosnia from extermination, at the cost of millions of dollars paid for by the American taxpayer.
"Hundreds of thousands" of casualties (which figures, by the way, usually lump in causalities caused by insurgent attacks with genuine collateral damage caused by American forces) is nowhere near
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the world has no other superpowers, so your statements are kind of funny. Does not excuse the evil of the USA over the 20th century attacking those who did not attack it, destabilizing governments, and supporting with money those that commit genocide. The body count of the USA really goes into the millions when counting all the support of evil regimes.
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I didn't excuse evil; I compared it. Once again, the point about being a grown up and thinking and talking about these things like a grown up is realizing there's no white knight, there's no magic pill. We have what we have and we try to figure out ways to make it better. Compare that attitude to ACs in this very thread openly predicting and gloating about an imminent USA downfall. There is no way
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And yet we had a recent minority President saying that white people would soon being a minority.
Oh, I see now. You're saying the US sucks because it is so bad at doing what you claim it is doing.
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The problem comes when an evil government imagines itself the White Knight, the World's Police, etc.... and yet support
Your excusing the incredible evil of the USA, and its support of genocide and atrocities even now based on "oh but look at the Nazis, look at the Soviet Union, etc." is disgusting. There are absolutes, mass murdering for money and power, and supporting those who do, is evil. Inexcusable.
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I very, very clearly described how I was not excusing anything. I'm comparing, saying that the evil should be reduced however we can--but that the diminished of the USA will NOT result in a net decrease of evil.
Unrepentant lying should be inexcusable.
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The body count of the USA really goes into the millions when counting all the support of evil regimes.
Stretching responsibility like that shows the argument's weakness.
Try another strategy: of all plausible superpowers that were or might have been in the 20th century, which one would have been better than the US? The Third Reich, Leninist Russia, Stalin's Russia, communist great-leap-forward China. Which one would you rather have a hegemony over the entire planet?
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Go ask minorities like the Uyghurs and Tibetans about the benevolence of the Han Chinese. Native Americans are being treated so much better today that you can't even compare the two; it's night and day.
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"Cannot be compared" is of course (as most non-autistic people know) a rhetorical device denoting the futility of comparison, of a massive disparity making it a pointless and/or downright laughable endeavor. We are talking about America in the present tense. You can pick China in the present tense OR in the past tense, but it doesn't matter which. Americ
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(America back then wasn't even remotely a superpower, by the way.)
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However... that's a long and arduous conversation, esp. re: slavery, so no. No, I'm afraid I'm just going to have to stick with pointing out the fact that you are changing the subject to something entirely different, something
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Well hell, China wasn't a superpower back in the Tibet days...so who cares right?
Except they're still doing shit in Tibet. If you want to compare body counts from... nevermind. You're so not even remotely attempting to follow the thread here.
Anyway, pretty sure a neutral observer would think you have a hell of a lot higher chance of being a paid Russian troll than me an American one. If you are, is there any way you could put in a good word for m
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Again, I spot a reply on my comments page, click, bash out a reply in under a minute if I'm in the mood without proofreading or googling and move on. You're an AC. You're thus subhuman (AC
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I was very clear that this was a relative comparison. So name one superpower that was better, out of all of history. Name one superpower that would have saved the Muslims of former Yugoslavia twice (Kosovo and Bosnia) from slaughter by their Christian, at the cost of many millions of dollars, even though they weren't of any particular use to us.
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If it is so bad, why do you stay and why are so many trying to take what should be your vacant seat?
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This is, tragically, an increasingly common error amongst the left today.
Re: We could yet see Space Marines (Score:2)
Considdering these things also penetrate ballistic missile defenses with ease...
Consider that these things don't actually exist in viable form or we wouldn't be reading about them here.
What? How? (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure ICBMs can manage better than Mach 5 (plus you have MIRV to contend with.) Ballistic missiles can pull off much higher reentry speeds in part because they don't have to worry about deceleration.
Re: We could yet see Space Marines (Score:1)
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You mean like a Squad of Avengers?
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It wasn't Elon Musk so they MUST have stolen it.
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Face it folks China has caught up and in some fields overtaken US (5G comes to mind where many of the key patents belong to Huawei).
How about High Speed Trains? Those Chinese now have the most extensive infrastructure here from A to Z. That is, design, building/manufacturing usage/servicing and research. In fact, when compared to USA trains, one would think the USA is still stuck in the 50s.
One field the USA still beats any other country:
Starting wars & fomenting chaos in distant lands.
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They are still lagging behind Japan somewhat. Especially when it comes to speed, comfort, safety and running on schedule.
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Slightly confused. Are you talking about Chinese trains or American wars?
Re: They stole it!!! (Score:3)
How about High Speed Trains?
Their high-speed failures won't [necessarily] be televised.
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High speed rail doesn't work in the US very well for many logical reasons. Mostly due to cost and usage.
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You are assuming they are telling the truth and not merely wiggling for the Communist Party.
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Let me guess. the trolls will claim they stole it!!!
Face it folks China has caught up and in some fields overtaken US (5G comes to mind where many of the key patents belong to Huawei).
And to quote Pres. Trump: ....It's just so UNFAIR!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! UNFAIR!!!!
Re:They stole it!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
On military matters it's completely different. China (and to a much greater extent Russia) has a bit of a history of doing military R&D projects where there's far less than meets the eye. Their anti-satellite missile test was largely considered to be an amateur operation. Their "functional" aircraft carrier has highly limited capabilities. Any old rocket that can make it into space is a hypersonic vehicle. If they actually landed it after operation, that's impressive, but it's also something that a medium-sized U.S. company (SpaceX) does every month.
The U.S. is the complete opposite, where a public announcement about military tech is the tip of the iceberg. If the U.S. makes an announcement about something weapons-related, you can rest assured that the defense labs have been working on it for years and there's tons of activity that nobody is talking about in public.
Re:They stole it!!! - they didn't have to!!! (Score:3)
like 5G, they moved ahead. Not because the U.S. can't handle this technology but because U.S. companies made the strategic decision to focus on other economic activities at the moment.
So why is the american administration trying to bully the world into not buying chinese 5G infrastructure and to buy american, instead?
You have to face up to facts that a country with 1.3 billion people is always, over time, going to better one with only 350 million. It means they have a bigger home market, bigger economy, more smart people and with a centrally planned economy fewer individuals or politicians who will stand in the way of "developments".
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5G, they moved ahead. Not because the U.S. can't handle this technology but because U.S. companies made the strategic decision to focus on other economic activities at the moment.
So why is the american administration trying to bully the world into not buying chinese 5G infrastructure and to buy american, instead?
You didn't think this through at all. The answer is obvious. If the US can bully the world into delaying their rollouts, it harms China and potentially benefits the US.
You have to face up to facts that a country with 1.3 billion people is always, over time, going to better one with only 350 million.
No, you don't. All else being equal, it would. All else is not equal. The USA is the most resource-dense nation on the planet, and leads a substantial number of high-dollar industries. China produces more food than the USA, but the USA exports more because of how much China consumes. China is self-handicapped by a culture that attacks individ
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"...it's that they're hamstrung by an inferior culture.'
Is it though? Look at what having a more collectivist culture does for their crime rates (massively lower in almost every category). Meanwhile 5 percent of our population is stuck within the confines of our legal system and will likely always will be. That's both extremely expensive and unproductive.
How about when it comes to getting something (anything) fucking done? China can open dozens of nuclear reactors in the time it takes the US to open one. Th
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You should remember this works both ways. Any military force on the planet would hide its most effective toys from the public eye as this becomes an advantage in an eventual war.
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On the other hand, Russia has a long history of inflating their military strength. They make themselves look way fiercer than they actually are. Most of their weapons systems are, and were always, far inferior to ours. But the Russians always spun the story so that they were our equals or superiors. This is
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Any military force on the planet would hide its most effective toys from the public eye as this becomes an advantage in an eventual war.
It really, really depends on the context. In some cases, the technology is intended mainly as a deterrent (nukes, and nuke delivery hardware of various types). In that case, you want to be very vocal about all of your capabilities, and advertise them loudly and often, so that nobody tries anything funny. If nuclear weapons are ever used, that means they have failed at their primary task (being scary enough to prevent war).
For other weapons tech, it really depends. Some technologies become really ineffective
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Whatever happened to Ayaks? (Score:1)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Maybe the Russians could sell the design to the Chinese? China seems to have the power and resources right now.
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https://hobbyking.com/en_us/ho... [hobbyking.com]
Chinese pulse jet! $110, six week delivery.
If you don't know the difference between a ramjet and a pulsejet you shouldn't post.
doesn't matter (Score:1)
How does this do anything for them?
This is reminescent of the Great Wall, which is the most agreed upon example of funds and resources doing nothing for the people.
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They don't have a first strike weapon? What are the DF-31A and the DF-41?
Pedantic rant: rocket vs. jet (Score:2)
*sigh*. Could we please use the correct terminology? TFA consistently calls it a "rocket" yet talks about its ramjet and/or scramjet engines and the issues with air intake.
If it uses oxygen from the atmosphere via an air intake, that's a jet engine and the vehicle is a jet or airplane. If it carries its own oxidizer, it's a rocket. Precision, people, precision. Words often have precise meanings, use them accurately.
That being said, I have no idea what "missile" actually means. A cruise missile really is an
Curious Photo of the Students (Score:2)
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Yeah I don't think you should blame others for the very deserved reputation that the Chinese brought on themselves.
Re: Queue the racist anti-Chinese screeds ... (Score:1)
Yes. Whites invented all crime. Before whites took over the planet in the last 100-200 years there was no crime,war, genocide, theft, racism, hatred or anything else bad. Everyone was fully in harmony and woke. Then those privileged white people (all men) showed up and destroyed the planet and enslaved everyone.
Yes. It was just like that and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.