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The X-15 set speed and altitude records in the 1960s, crossing the edge of outer space and returning with valuable data used in aircraft and spacecraft design. The X-15's highest speed, 4,520 miles per hour (7,274 km/h; 2,021 m/s), [ 1 ] was achieved on 3 October 1967, [ 2 ] when William J. Knight flew at Mach 6.7 at an altitude of 102,100 feet ...
The Mach number (M or Ma), often only Mach, (/ mɑːk /; German: [max]) is a dimensionless quantity in fluid dynamics representing the ratio of flow velocity past a boundary to the local speed of sound. [1][2] It is named after the Austrian physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach. where: M is the local Mach number, u is the local flow velocity ...
For example, if the M MO is Mach 0.83, then at 9,100 m (30,000 ft) where the speed of sound under standard conditions is 1,093 kilometres per hour (590 kn), the true airspeed at M MO is 906 kilometres per hour (489 kn). The speed of sound increases with air temperature, so at Mach 0.83 at 3,000 m (10,000 ft) where the air is much warmer than at ...
The subsonic speed range is that range of speeds within which, all of the airflow over an aircraft is less than Mach 1. The critical Mach number (Mcrit) is lowest free stream Mach number at which airflow over any part of the aircraft first reaches Mach 1. So the subsonic speed range includes all speeds that are less than Mcrit.
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately 343.2 m/s (1,126 ft/s; 768 mph; 667.1 kn; 1,236 km/h). Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) are often referred to as hypersonic.
Hypersonic flight is flight through the atmosphere below altitudes of about 90 km (56 mi) at speeds greater than Mach 5, a speed where dissociation of air begins to become significant and high heat loads exist. Speeds over Mach 25 have been achieved below the thermosphere as of 2020. [citation needed] Reentry vehicle (RV) after an 8,000 ...
This speed is the asymptotic limiting value of the speed, and the forces acting on the body balance each other more and more closely as the terminal speed is approached. In this example, a speed of 50% of terminal speed is reached after only about 3 seconds, while it takes 8 seconds to reach 90%, 15 seconds to reach 99% and so on.
On October 3, 1967, Knight set a world aircraft speed record for manned aircraft by piloting the X-15A-2 to 4,520 miles per hour (7,274 km/h) (Mach 6.70), [3] [4] a record that still stands today. During 16 flights in the aircraft, Knight also became one of only five pilots to earn their Astronaut Wings by flying an airplane in space, reaching ...