Experimental aircraft fails

A test flight of an experimental aircraft capable of speeding through air at 20 times the speed of sound ended prematurely the morning of Aug. 11 when the arrowhead-shaped plane failed and stopped sending back real-time data to engineers and scientists who were monitoring the mission. In the test flight, the aircraft, known as the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, was launched at 7:45 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base, located northwest of Santa Barbara, into the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere aboard an eight-story Minotaur IV rocket, made by <a class="taxInlineTagLink" id="ORCRP011512" title="Orbital Sciences Corporation" href="/topic/economy-business-finance/orbital-sciences-corporation-ORCRP011512.topic">Orbital Sciences Corp.</a> Above, an artist's rendering of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2. <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/08/vandenberg-launch-hypersonic-vehicle-fails.html"><span class="center_label">Story</span></a>

2011-most-viewed-aircraft-fails

( Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency )

A test flight of an experimental aircraft capable of speeding through air at 20 times the speed of sound ended prematurely the morning of Aug. 11 when the arrowhead-shaped plane failed and stopped sending back real-time data to engineers and scientists who were monitoring the mission. In the test flight, the aircraft, known as the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2, was launched at 7:45 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base, located northwest of Santa Barbara, into the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere aboard an eight-story Minotaur IV rocket, made by Orbital Sciences Corp. Above, an artist's rendering of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2. Story

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