Hypersonic, Eco Friendly Flights By 2050?

Have your flights made you wish that you reached your destination in less than half the time it says it would? Well, this innovation seems to have been picked out of one such wish. Come 2050, a ‘Hypersonic’ jet called Zehst; an abbreviation for Zero Emission Hypersonic Transportation will slice its way through London, and take you to Tokyo in 2.5 hours flat. Just in case you’re wondering, it takes a good 11.5 hours to reach Tokyo from London, at present. The surprise doesn’t end there, the jet claims to go easy on pollution, and can ferry about 50 to 100 passengers.

Jet..set..go

The Zehst plans are scheduled to be made public today at Le Bourget airshow, near Paris by the European Aerospace leader, EADS. The jet will be powered by normal engines, only it will be run on biofuel made by seaweed, before the rocket engines are turned on. The rocket engines are fuelled by hydrogen and oxygen that owing to their elemental properties (leave behind plain water vapor) help the jet maintain an altitude of 32km.

However promising the concept may seem, the jet wouldn’t be seen around in action before 2050, which is indeed, a long time to wait for. The EADS, in collaboration with Japan can be expected to roll out a prototype of the same by 2020.

Source: nzherald.co.nz