Aurora Project

[sharksandwich]

Hypothesised data

DESCRIPTION:
The name "Aurora" first appeared in a 1985 budget document with a line by that name slated to receive $80 million in FY 1986 and $2.2 billion in FY 1987. Since the item appeared just after the TR-1, many conjectured this project was a high-speed reconnaissance aircraft to replace the SR-71. As early as 1979, the Air Force had begun studying a "...Mach 4, 200,000-ft.-altitude aircraft that could be a follow-on to the Lockheed SR-71 strategic reconnaissance vehicle in the 1990s."
The Air Force, NASA, and several aerospace contractors undertook design studies of Mach 5 aircraft throughout the early and mid-1980s that may have supplied the basic information needed to develop such a concept. The principal difficulties these studies had to address were the development of engines able to power an aircraft at speeds exceeding Mach 5 and developing structures capable of surviving the intense aerodynamic heating experienced at such high speeds (see the Aerospaceweb.org Hypersonic Waverider site to learn more about high-speed flight).
If it does exist, many conjecture the Aurora may look something like the Mach 3 XB-70 Valkyrie or NASA's cancelled X-30 National Aerospace Plane (NASP). Both vehicles were wedge-shaped with delta wings of small area. Both combated heating issues by circulating onboard fuel along surfaces experiencing the greatest heat fluxes. While the XB-70 was propelled by conventional jet engines, the X-30 was to have been powered by advanced ramjet or scramjet engines using cryogenic fuels to operate at speeds exceeding Mach 5.
Based on this technological progression and close scrutiny of the US budget, many observers are convinced the US Air Force was able to develop, build, and test a large high-speed aircraft by the early 1990s. Shortly thereafter, reports of loud sonic booms and sightings of strange contrails over Great Britain and southern California began to surface. Some believe these reports provide further evidence of a very high-speed aircraft using some exotic form of propulsion. It is interesting to note, however, that these reports rapidly trailed off after 1996 suggesting that whatever vehicle mentioned in these sightings may have been only an experimental prototype no longer in use.
The US government has repeatedly denied the existence of an aircraft called Aurora or any similar follow-on aircraft to replace the SR-71. Since the evidence supporting the Aurora is circumstantial or pure conjecture, there is little reason to contradict the government's position. Data below estimated and completey conjectural
Last modified 13 September 2009


HISTORY: First Flight possibly late-1980s Service Entry

existence unconfirmed

CREW: possibly two: pilot and systems officer

ESTIMATED COST:

unknown

AIRFOIL SECTIONS: Wing Root unknown Wing Tip

unknown

DIMENSIONS: Length 115 ft (35 m) Wingspan 65 ft (20 m) Height 19 ft (6 m) Wing Area 3,200 ft2 (300 m2) Canard Area

not applicable

WEIGHTS: Empty 65,000 lb (29,480 kg) Typical Load unknown Max Takeoff 157,000 lb (71,215 kg) Fuel Capacity internal: 88,000 lb (39,920 kg)
external: not applicable Max Payload

4,000 lb (1,815 kg)

PROPULSION: Powerplant possibly turbofan engines for subsonic flight and
ramjets, scramjets, or pulse detonation engines for supersonic flight Thrust unknown

PERFORMANCE: Max Level Speed at altitude: possibly Mach 5 to Mach 8 (some suggest up to Mach 20)
at sea level: unknown Initial Climb Rate unknown Service Ceiling 131,000 ft (40,000 m) Range 8,000 nm (15,000 km) g-Limits unknown

ARMAMENT: Gun none Stations none Air-to-Air Missile none (although some suggest a long-range AAM like the AIM-54 Phoenix might be carried) Air-to-Surface Missile none Bomb none Other cameras, IR sensors, other recon sensors

KNOWN VARIANTS: Aurora Possible high-speed advanced reconnaissance platform

KNOWN COMBAT RECORD:

existence unconfirmed

KNOWN OPERATORS:

United States (US Air Force)

3-VIEW SCHEMATIC:

<U>[edit] Steven Douglas sighting

On March 23, 1992, near Amarillo, Texas, Steven Douglas photographed the "doughnuts on a rope" contrail and linked this sighting to distinctive sounds. He described the engine noise in the May 11, 1992, edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology (p.62-63) as a:
“(...) strange, loud pulsating roar... unique... a deep pulsating rumble that vibrated the house and made the windows shake... similar to rocket engine noise, but deeper, with evenly timed pulses.”
In addition to providing the first photographs of the distinctive contrail previously reported by many, the significance of this sighting was enhanced by Douglas' reports of intercepts of radio transmissions:
“Air-to-air communications... were between an AWACS aircraft with the call sign "Dragnet 51" from Tinker AFB, Okla., and two unknown aircraft using the call signs 'Darkstar November' and 'Darkstar Mike.' Messages consisted of phonetically transmitted alphanumerics. It is not known whether this radio traffic had any association with the "pulser" that had just flown over Amarillo. (Darkstar is also a call sign of AWACS aircraft from a different squadron at Tinker AFB)”
A month later, radio enthusiasts in California monitoring Edwards AFB Radar (callsign "Joshua Control") heard early morning radio transmissions between Joshua and a high flying aircraft using the callsign "Gaspipe".
“You're at 67,000 ft, 81 miles out" was heard, followed by "seventy miles out now, 36,000 ft, above glideslope.”
At the time, NASA was operating both the SR-71 and the U2-R from Edwards, but it has been confirmed that neither of these types were flying at the time Gaspipe was heard.[5] Curtis Peebles claims in his book Dark Eagles that the intercepted radio transmissions were probably a prank on the part of Edwards security personnel.
[edit] Other sightings

• In the highly disputed testimony of alleged physicist Robert Lazar, he claims that during his employ at the mysterious S-4 facility in Nevada, that he briefly witnessed an Aurora flight while aboard a bus near Groom Lake. He claimed that there was a "tremendous roar" which sounded almost as if "the sky was tearing." Though he only saw the physical craft for a moment through the front of the bus, he described it as being "very large" and having "two huge, square exhausts with vanes in them." Upon speaking with his supervisor, Lazar was said to have been informed that the craft was indeed an "Aurora," a "high altitude research plane." He was also told that the craft was powered by "liquid methane."[11]

• In March 2006, the History Channel broadcast a television program called "An Alien History of Planet Earth" which examined UFO reports in the context of secret military aviation programs. During the program, aviation journalist Nick Cook presented a satellite image of the continental U.S. showing a contrail allegedly originating in Nevada and extending over the Atlantic Ocean. The contrail was unusual, as it appeared different from other contrails visible on satellite images. The craft that produced those contrails was not visible on the image. Based on the details of the image, it was speculated that it indicated an aircraft flying at a speed of around 7,000 mph (Mach 10.5, or 11,265 km/h).

• In December 2006, a Video was filmed of a "doughnuts on a rope" contrail after hearing a supersonic boom that seemed to vibrate very viciously.

http://en.wikipedia.org.wiki