alt Hacker NewsThe article is just generally sloppy.
> .. my recent trip from Abu Dhabi to LA. 24 hours door-to-door. We have the technology to reduce that to under 10.
The direct flight (by Emirates) takes 16h15 mins, so that leaves 7h45 mins not in flight. If we want to bring that down to 10 hours just by making the flight supersonic then that would require a flight time of 2h15, corresponding to a (ridiculous) speed well over Mach 4.
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Not ridiculous if you’re flying above the atmosphere. SpaceX has proposed point-to-point rocket-powered hypersonic flights that connect New York to Paris in around 30 minutes.
Obviously the real problem with this idea is environmental: emissions would be substantial and nobody wants an extremely noisy rocket port near their city.
In fairness, Astro Mechanica and Hermeus claim to have a pathway to Mach 5. Not saying I expect to see it, particularly not for regular people flights to the Middle East, but believing in it is kind of the premise of the article.
(I must admit I was more curious about Astro Mechanica's engine tech before they also threw in the intention to operate Uber for business jets...)