X-51A Team Receives Aviation Week Laureate

  • Published
  • By Thomas Brown
  • Propulsion
The Air Force Research Laboratory's X-51A Waverider Hypersonic Vehicle Team was presented with an Aviation Week Laureate in the Aeronautics/Propulsion category. Accepting the award for the entire team were Program Managers Charles Brink of the AFRL's Propulsion Directorate, Joseph Vogel of Boeing Phantom Works, and George Thum of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

The award honors outstanding achievements in defense, aerospace, and aviation. The team successfully designed the X-51A Waverider that was launched from a B-52 above the Pacific Ocean on May 26, 2010.

That historic event proved that a scramjet-powered engine could accelerate in controlled flight for a sustained amount of time.