Scramjets what does the future hold?

Question

I read that scramjets can potentuialy reach speeds of mach 15 and even mach 25 and up wards. I know that NASA and lockheed have been developing scramjets like the X-43, X33 and the X51 and are currently testing them my question is in the future would it be possible for people to travel at these speeds (mach 15 plus) and what effects would these speeds have on the human body.

Answer 1

first off, you would not feel any effects as long as the plane went straight. Even if it does a small turn you will feel enormous "G" loads. But don't worry, they will keep straight. Turbulence won't be a problem, because the plane will be going too high/fast.

And of course people would be able to fly in them..Why would NASA spend billions of dollars on something that humans couldn't fly in? But don't hold your breath for it. Chuck yeager broke the sound barrier in the 50's (or is it 40's? I can't remember...) And it was decades before just a couple of very expensive planes were used for supersonic travel. Also many people think supersonic travel will not happen again, because of the boom it makes. However plane designers have found ways to design the aircraft which actually muffles the boom until it's barely audible. As I said don't count on it hitting the civilian market any time soon. Most likely it won't become a military standard until about 15 years from now. And then another 15 years and they might start THINKING about civilian uses (emphasize tihnking, it could be another 5 years before it is actually done) obviously these are all guesstimates, but theyre based on a similar occasion, the supersonic one.

I have heard predictions though that scramjets can get a person from L.A. to New York in 30 mintues flat. Wowza!

Answer 2

Yes it is possible, but not very practical, a S.C.R.A.M. (supersonic combustion ram jet)  needs to be supersonic before it can be started up and therefore has a minimum functional speed. And even NASA says that keeping a scram jet running is like keeping a match lit while standing in a hurricane! The effects on the human body would be extreme G loading in turns and climbs.

Maybe someday it would be a reality but the practical reasoning would suggest that if you have a transport aircraft that can get supersonic why take all the risks involved to go a bit faster? I mean we retired our only supersonic transport (Concorde) because of safety issues.

A hybrid SCRAM/RAM/Turbojet would be a novel idea (like the movie Stealth)