Aurora XST and NASP

Looking into the Aurora matter this mornin... I come across this... I think we have found Aurora alive and well.

www.fas.org...

There is also the possiblity that the SR-71 follow-on was hidden in plain sight. The program to develop what is called the National Aerospace Plane (NASP), designated the X-30, had its roots in a highly classified, Special Access Required, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project called Copper Canyon, which ran from 1982 to 1985. Originally conceived as a feasibility study for a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) airplane which could take off and land horizontally, Copper Canyon became the starting point for what Ronald Reagan called...

"...a new Orient Express that could, by the end of the next decade, take off from Dulles Airport and accelerate up to twenty-five times the speed of sound, attaining low earth orbit or flying to Tokyo within two hours..."

www.aerospaceguide.net...

www.infobrary.com...

As a part of a five-company team, Pratt & Whitney is pursuing and refining propulsion technologies for the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP). Designated X-30, this huge aircraft will operate from conventional airfields on Earth and fly at hypersonic speeds _ up to Mach 25 or Mach 30 (15,000 to 17,000 miles per hour) _ and be capable of achieving low Earth orbit.

A scaled propulsion system has been tested at a speed of Mach 8 and other components as high as Mach 14. Additionally, an engine cowl cooling device has been tested at temperatures it would encounter at Mach 20.

We all know Aurora was supposed to go Mach 8 to 20.

www.astronautix.com...

The X-30 National Aerospace Plane (NASP) was the public follow-on to the classified Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Copper Canyon program of 1982-1985. President Reagan announced the project in his 1986 State of the Union message, calling for development of "...a new Orient Express that could, by the end of the next decade, take off from Dulles Airport and accelerate up to twenty-five times the speed of sound, attaining low earth orbit or flying to Tokyo within two hours...".

I think this is our super-secret hypersonic Aurora... uncovered.

[edit on 24-6-2004 by Shugo]

Interesting find. However, I think it would go far too fast for it to be an effective recon plane and thereby successor to the Habu.

I am interested in your sightings though. May I enquire as to them?

Who said it's directly for Recon? It's mainly designed for space flight... and yea... some recon.

My sightings...
October 30, 2000
August 10, 2003
March 27, 2004

August 10, 2003 - That was when I got a nice good look at it.

Most of the hype is on it being a Habu replacement, which would make it a pure recon platform. However, in this age of multi tasking, it could indeed be a secondary role.


Would you mind elaborating on them? If you don't feel comftorable, thats cool.

I would... but, if you read the information... everything is said there.

We are achieving new heights in aerodynamics and in flight.

Shugo,

Did it look like this?




cgi.ebay.com...

The wings were more rounded... as was the nose.

Looked like one of the concepts on the FAS site.

Shugo,

I wonder if we can find any correlation between your sightings, for which you have exact dates, and seismic recordings from the Southwest U.S. Can you tell us the general region of the world where you saw the aircraft?

[Edited on 2-4-2004 by Condorcet]

The location is in the Midwest United States.

Unfortunately I believe this has nothing to do with seismic activities at all. This is a plane... and a shape... unless your talking about it being so loud the ground shook.

Yeah, I'm looking for indications of its sonic shockwave. I assume this vehicle is stationed at Area 51, but I don't know for sure. You can search the earthquake catalog from Southern Cal's seismic network according to various categories, including

Regional
Local
Mining blasts
Nuclear blasts
Sonic blasts
Unknown

www.data.scec.org...

I did a search for March 27 and didn't find anything, but I don't have time to do a more exhaustive search.

OK... I'll look that up... one thing is the distance I am from Area-51 is almost too immence. I don't think it was a travel and test.

Why does a high speed determine that such an aircraft would be an improbable candidate for reconnaissance?

At such a high speed, hypersonic reconnaissance would be an awesome intelligence weapon. The CIA would have it's snaps and be out of there before ground-based weapons could target the sucker.

According to one of the Disclosure Project witnesses, this aircraft or a variation of it which he called it the SR-75*, can fly from the Southwest US to London in 18 minutes. It'd be interesting to know how slow it can go, too.

*correction: he called it "the successor to the SR-71"

[Edited on 2-4-2004 by Condorcet]

I'm guess the abilities of VTOL. 0 MPH.

With an aircraft of that type of technology... it'd be sure to be able to go VTOL... however, I may be wrong.

Hmm... incorporating a VTOL fan into a hypersonic interceptor would create impossible aerodynamic fractures. A simple wind tunnel test would create havoc, although it would never leave the design board.

Shugo,

Was the aircraft you saw flying at typical speeds and altitudes, with normal contrails and making typical sounds? Was it during the day or at night?

[Edited on 2-4-2004 by Condorcet]

Times 1 and 3 absolutely not on all notes. Sonic Booms... very blurry sights... about 5000 feet, and the popular hot dog on a string contrail.

2nd time... slow... low... and barely noisy at all.

condercet, that pic looks a hell of a lot like lockheeds B-3, which would make sense, since if they made the Aurora, they would probably base a hypersonic bomber on it for cost saving. This takes me to another theory of mine...The aurora spy plane is actually a bomber that doubles as a spy plane.

I think they won't. I've thought about them possibly making it a bomber or fighter. I do not think theat we are going to make a bomber that goes from Mach 8 to Mach 25. Mach 6 possibly.

After thinking about that SR-75 picture above, I've started to doubt they'd create a hypersonic aircraft with those front canard wings. It seems to me the front wings would be potentially very dangerous at hypersonic speeds. I wonder if it would be possible to make retractable canards.

I agree that these aircraft would be used to deliver bombs, especially nukes.

[Edited on 2-4-2004 by Condorcet]