Having grown up in the 50's and 60's I remember the promise of supersonic and hypersonic flight by the turn of the century. Yet the reality is that the only supersonic transports have now been retired and the vast majority of the us have never seen one. In 1969 the US put human beings on the moon but we haven't been back in the last 30 years. Humans are by nature explorers. We need to overcome new challenges. So let's follow through on some of the many promises that science has given us. Let's establish that moon base, put people on Mars and yes, produce real usable supersonic and hypersonic aircraft that the average person can fly on. NASA was just recognized for setting a speed record for an air breathing aircraft, achieving a speed of Mach 10 (more than 10 times the speed of your average airliner). Now do we turn that into my dreamed of airliner?
