The $1.3 million HyShot™ IV experiment appears likely to be held on Thursday, March 30 at the Woomera range, 500km north of Adelaide, at about 12.30pm local time (CDT).
This flight experiment is a commission from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to The University of Queensland.
The experiment is designed to benefit the development of future space transportation systems. It is hoped that the HyShot™ IV program will provide more extensive scramjet pressure and temperature measurements than previous flights.
University of Queensland scientists today and tomorrow will continue running computer simulations, and preparing the HyShot™ IV payload for the launch.
A contingent of JAXA scientists arrived in Woomera last night and will be briefed on progress today.
UQ scientists spent most of yesterday analysing data received from the HyShot™ III experiment following a successful liftoff on Saturday, March 25.
HyShot™ program member Associate Professor Michael Smart said there was a slight problem when the engine re-entered the atmosphere differently to what was expected.
"But the flight computer was smart enough to see the problem, and sort everything out. It made adjustments so the experiment could proceed," he said.
Following Saturday’s experiment, researchers also cleaned down the launch rail of the $2 million advanced launcher which JAXA has gifted to UQ for peaceful scientific experiments, such as those to further scramjet technology. They also prepared the launcher for Thursday’s experiment.
The $2 million University of Queensland-led HyShot™ III experiment used a scramjet engine developed by UK company, QinetiQ.
The scramjet was attached to a Terrier-Orion rocket combination and aimed to fly at an estimated Mach 8 (or about 8000km/hr), or about 10 times faster than a conventional jet engine.
It appears from early data that the rocket reached a height of more than 325km (the Earth’s atmosphere finishes at about 100km) before the spent rocket motor with scramjet attached headed back to Earth for an experimental window of about six seconds.
The scramjet and second stage of the rocket combination landed some 400km down range.
A recovery team in a Cessna fixed wing aircraft yesterday commenced a search of a remote region in the South Australian desert to attempt to retrieve the HyShot™ III payload.
Media: Further information:
UQ: Jan King UQ Communications + 61 408 728 810 (Woomera range) or +61 413 601 248 (Woomera township), j.king@uq.edu.au
QinetiQ: Christopher Moseley, QinetiQ Press Office, +44 (0) 1252 395559, cgmoseley@qinetiq.com
JAXA: Public Affairs Section, General Services Division, Institute of Aerospace Technology,
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
7-44-1 Jindaiji Higashi-machi, Chofu-shi, Tokyo, 182-8522
To view and download launch images: https://www.uq.edu.au/news/press/press-gallery.php
To view video footage of the liftoff: www.omc.uq.edu.au/video/hyshot/liftoff.mov www.omc.uq.edu.au/video/hyshot/HyShot3.mov
