DARPA has released this first – and perhaps only – video footage of the ill-fated second test-flight of DARPA’s Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2). Shot with a handheld camera by a crewmember aboard the Pacific Tracker, the first monitoring vessel able to visually track the HTV’s initial entry into the atmosphere, the video shows the HTV-2 hurtling across the sky on August 11 at Mach 20 before its “controlled descent” into the Pacific Ocean.
DARPA Director, Regina Dugan says the video, “gives us a visceral feel for what it means to fly at Mach 20.”
DARPA also released this video showing a speed comparison between the HTV-2, a C-5 and an F-18:
Source: YouTube