It's easyformetolookbackwith a certainamountofnostalgiaandsay, Ah, thosewerethegoodolddays.
In a sense, theywerebackIn 2003 unmannedsled, using a superRoadrunnerrocketmotor, settherecordforspeedfor a landvehicleat a whoppingMach 8.4, orsomewherebetween 6416 and 6453 MPH.
However, thisspeedwaseclipsedby a morerecenttestin 2019 whichsawanotherrocketsledgo 6599 MPH, orMach 8.6.
Lockedontothetrackandtravelingin a straightline, theserocketsleadsgivenewmeaningtothephrasegoingnowhere.
Fastgoldspeedispostedalloverourfacility, andthat's mockedinnumbersix, H T V totheHypersonicTechnologyVehicletwoor H.
T.
V twois a glideaircraftthattheDARPAFalconProjectexperimentedwithintheearly 20 tens.
Builtoflightweightmaterialsandinanaerodynamicdesign, the H T V twoispartof a classofglidingvehiclesdevelopedformilitarypurposes.
Scientistswereabletomake a 13 yeartriponLee 9.5 years.
Itscurrentspeedisnowlessso.
ItwillneverovertakeVoyagerone, butit's stilltravelingattrulyincrediblespeedsasitpassesthroughtheKuiperBeltandleavesoursolarsystemNumbertwo, Helios A and B.
ThetwoHeliosprobeswere a jointventurebetweenWestGermanyandtheUnitedStatestostudythesunmoreclosely.
Launchedin 1974 and 76 theseprobeswerethefirstoftheirkindtobeconstructedoutsidethe U.