European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 8, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a a a my of the stars and stripes saturday december 8,1990 new is by Bill Sweetman. Jane s defence weekly persistent reports say that the air forced secret world of a Black projects a and top Security bases which created the stealth bomber and f-117a stealth fighter has spawned another Prodigy a a spy plane which can cruise at hypersonic speeds a 3,500 to 4,000 Miles per hour perhaps even faster a at an Altitude of 120,000 feet. Its code name Aurora. There is a Clear need for a plane like Aurora for situations such As the persian Gulf crisis where speedy and reliable intelligence is beyond Price and most of the technology for hypersonic aircraft already exists. A prototype or experimental Model of Aurora May already be based at the air forces secret test facilities outside Las vegas Nev. Ground observers have seen and heard an unusual aircraft which May be the Aurora flying High Over the Mojave desert Between Las vegas Ana los Angeles. They say the plane makes a unique pulsing sound that rises and Falls rhythmically about once per second and leaves a linked sausage shaped smoke Trail. The Swift High flying plane s Roar is a like the sky ripping open a according to two witnesses. Reports of auroras existence have been consistently denied by the air Force and by the Lockheed corp. The plane has been linked to Lockheed a super secretive a Skunk works in Burbank calif., where the company develops new military aircraft. But a classified budget request for the a Aurora project a listed in a strategic reconnaissance a other aircraft funding category a a was accidentally released in 1987. A a a a it showed spending-siiarply.-Incroasingfrom-s8q.l million in 1986 to $2.27 billion in 1987. Reports have also connected Aurora with the on again off again Pentagon Nasa project to build the x-30 National aerospace plane a space shuttle like Craft that would make everyday space travel possible. Streaking at hypersonic Speed in a Low orbit around the Earth the x-30 would deliver commercial Passen a ers and freight from the United states to any foreign destination in just a few hours. Until its retirement earlier this year the air forces fastest aircraft was another photo reconnaissance Jet the Lockheed built sr-71 Blackbird Young Black men s homicide rate soaring cd says Atlanta apr homicide the leading cause of death among Young Black males has increased by two thirds among that group in four years researchers with the National centers for disease control reported thursday. Nationwide 2,741 Black males aged 15 to 24 were homicide victims in 1988, cd epidemiologist or. Robert Froehlke said. The killings represent a rate of 101.1 for every 100,000 Black males in the age group up 67 percent from the 1984 rate of 60.6. The new figures indicate a reversal in a trend that saw homicides decrease among Young Black men in the Early 1980s, the cd said. Meanwhile rates for females and White males in that age group a have either stayed essentially the same or in fact decreased a Little bit a Froehlke said a the disparity Between Black males and other groups has widened even More Quot in 1987, the latest year in which Complete statistics Are available Young Black males homicide rate is some six times greater than the rate for All americans aged 1524 among Blacks the rate was 84.6 per 100,000, compared with 13.8 per 100,000, Froehlke said. The nations Overall homicide rate in 1987 was 8.5 per100,000, that year homicides accounted for 42 percent of the deaths of Black males in that age group. The a pc a analysis is based on 1987 figures. Tie 1988 statistics released just last week have not yet been Analysed in depth Froehlke said. The Blackbird holds world records for Speed and Altitude including one for a blazing 68-Mtrfute, 17-second run last March Between los Angeles and Washington. Black and sinister looking the Dagger shaped blackbirds flew at More than 85,000 feet to elude detection although blackbirds flew Over the soviet Union and other heavily defended countries none was Ever shot Down at an average Speed of 2,200 Mph. This is about 400. Mph to 500 Mph faster than the concorde which is the fastest air plane in commercial operation. The Blackbird Fleet was retired by Pentagon Cost Cut ters because of High costs a an estimated $400 million a ground observers have seen and heard an unusual aircraft which May be the Aurora flying High Over the Mojave desert Between Las Security organizations Monitor satellite orbits and use them to devise Means of concealment and deception. At the air forces top secret bases in Nevada for example portable shelters can be trundled Over objects of interest As soon As a satellite warning is issued a spy plane is flexible and unpredictable. It can arrive from almost any bearing at any time and it will be overhead within minutes. Like the air forces bombers part of the Aurora Fleet could be on Alert at All times. Travelling at 4,000 Mph and using a satellite link to relay data Back to its base Aurora could deliver photos of most Points of interest on the Earth a surface within six hours of Takeoff. / t an aircraft can often provide better intelligence than a satellite when the target is hidden by night Clouds smoke dust or Sand. Only radar can see in the dark and through Clouds and modern reconnaissance radars can see very Fine details at Long distances. Radar works better on an aircraft because its performance is dictated by distance and electrical Power tie aircraft is closer to the target and its engine driven generators Are More powerful than any satellites Power Plant. Year a and because experts said spy satellites made the planes obsolete satellites cannot be shot Down and satellite passes unlike overflights by aircraft Are not considered a provocation. Thanks to spectacular electronic cameras satellite pictures can show amazing detail. A but intelligence agencies May have to wait for More than a Day until a satellite passes Over a target. And ultimately a satellite runs out of fuel or enough parts Aurora would be no More vulnerable to interception than a satellite. The sr-71, a Little More than half As fast survived More than 800 missile attacks. Auroras Speed and Altitude would put it Well beyond the reach of any surface to air missile i a study carried out by Mcdonnell Douglas in 1986 concluded that the technology to build an aircraft with auroras performance was available a now or in the near term a and not just for an exotic spy plan Hnit for a commercial transport. The Mcdonnell Douglas design was a slender Delta shaped aircraft fuelled by liquid m6 Thane which con fail in orbit to put it out of action. No spy satellite has lasted More than three years. The sr-71 flew for 26 years and could have lasted longer satellites Are also predictable. The Laws of Orbital mechanics determine when a satellite will pass Over any Point on Earth unless its rocket thrusters Are fired to change its orbit. Gains More i it would be powered by. Remarkably simple engines called air Turbo Ramjet which Are based on a Patent filed in 1949, a v the hypersonic Airliner would weigh 300 tons at Takeoff about As much As a dc-10, and would Cany 300 passengers for 6,300 Miles a v a a a with its much smaller Load an sr-71-size Aurora spy plane might have a Range of More than 10,000 Miles. Space Center Houston apr Crew members aboard the space shuttle Columbia conducted a live science lesson Friday for Middle school students at two Nasa centers. Meanwhile astronauts were Back stargazing on Friday after scientists on the ground fired up the. $150 million Astro Observatory which has been crippled by repeated malfunctions a you May have heard of some of the problems we be been having astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman told the youngsters a a it a been quite an interesting dynamic Mission. Quot. Troubles have persisted throughout the Mission and have forced the astronauts to skip More than 100 planned observations about 250 celestial targets were to have been studied the latest problem occurred thursday when a Back up computer terminal aboard the spacecraft that had been running the Observatory a three ultraviolet Scopes overheated and shut Down. Tie other computer terminal faded sunday ,.respite the setbacks the Crew proceeded with in Day s lesson the first in what Nasa Hopes will become a regular science series for youngsters