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Australia: It could soon be possible to travel from Europe to Australia and back in a day as research into hypersonic travel gains momentum.
Aeronautic engineers in Sydney have been invited by the European Space Agency (ESA) to investigate further the possibility of travelling from Europe to Australia in two hours.
PhD researchers David Munk and Jonathan Jeyaratnam have been recruited by the HEXAFLY-INT project, a team which is researching how to fly civil aircraft and hypersonic speeds.
David's work is attempting to improve designs of the aircraft which will resist the extremely high temperatures generated by such flight.
He told phys.org: "One of the main concerns is extreme heat.
"An aircraft experiences high thermal stresses and a significant reduction in material strength and stiffness when it is taking off or flying at supersonic speeds."
Jonathan's field is how the aerodynamics of the plane will handle the contrasting low-speed flows during take-off and landing.
Hypersonic flight has been the obsession of many aeronautical researchers for more than 60 years.
British company Reaction Engines is testing hypersonic aircraft which could travel at speeds of Mach 2.5 all the way up to Mach 5.
Nasa is reportedly working on the next generation of passenger planes, looking to create sleek and safe craft to combat the current ban on supersonic flight over land.
