Kiribu

NASA revealed recently that they have set aside funds to continue research on a hypersonic jet, capable of transporting travellers from New York to Sydney in just 2.5 hours compared to the 21 hours it takes now.

NASA will allocate over $5 million annually on this project to develop the 21st century version of the concorde!

Tests over the last few years have shown that their Scramjet technology can propel aircraft at world record speeds of almost Mach 10, or over 7000 (!) miles per hour. Hypersonic jets travel at least 5 times the speed of sound.

According to the proposal, engineers will explore “entry, descent and landing of high-mass vehicles entering into planetary atmospheres’’ and “air breathing access to space’’.

There are still many hurdles to overcome though, not least keeping passengers safe and comfortable during the flight and at such high speeds.