Missile battery

High-Speed Hype: The Stealth Problem With Hypersonic ‘Wonder Weapons’

March 29, 2023

Ultra-fast speed may shield hypersonic missiles from radar detection. But as they plunge through the atmosphere like a meteor, will their heat signature give them away?

Robyn Macdonald

Video: Computational Modeling of Hypersonic Flows

Feb. 22, 2023

Robyn Macdonald is an assistant professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department at CU Boulder. Her research interests include hypersonic flows, computation of chemically reacting flows, chemical kinetics, and radiation modeling. Her work has broad applications for hypersonic vehicles for space travel, national defense and other applications.

Capsule returning from space

What happens to spacecraft when they hit Earth's atmosphere at 25,000 mph?

Dec. 16, 2022

Iain Boyd leads a $15 million NASA institute called the Advanced Computational Center for Entry System Simulation (ACCESS). This effort investigates new ways to protect spacecraft as they undergo the extremes of entering atmospheres on Earth, Mars and beyond.

hypersonic missile graphic

Podcast: China, Russia and the race for new hypersonic missiles

Aug. 16, 2022

Aerospace engineer and former NASA employee, Professor Iain Boyd, on the hypersonic arms race Beijing seems to be winning.

Hypersonic vehicle

Daily Camera: Department of Defense grants Boulder $7.5 million to study hypersonic vehicles

June 6, 2022

University of Colorado Boulder researchers have partnered with universities both nationally and internationally as experts for the first time to study why communication blackouts occur to vehicles moving at hypersonic speeds — faster than the speed of sound.

Iain Boyd

Boyd talks supersonic airliners with the Washington Post

June 6, 2022

Iain Boyd discusses the potential and pitfalls of new supersonic commercial flights in an Washington Post article.

Hypersonic vehicle

CU Boulder awarded major Department of Defense research grant for hypersonics

March 30, 2022

The University of Colorado Boulder has received a five-year, $7.5 million grant to advance the science of hypersonic flight.

Hypersonic vehicle

North America vulnerable to Russian and Chinese hypersonic weapons

March 23, 2022

North America has few options to defend against Russian and Chinese hypersonic weapons, which can manoeuvre while travelling more than five times the speed of sound. Potentially capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the U.S. is still trying to develop a similar arsenal.

Iain boyd and students drawing diagrams in a group

All college Interdisciplinary Research Theme Blitz and Poster Session set for April 12

March 8, 2022

The College of Engineering and Applied Science will host a research blitz and poster session featuring work from within the interdisciplinary research themes from 3 - 6 p.m. on April 12 in the DLC lobby and first floor meeting spaces.

A craft intercepting a hypersonic missile

How hypersonic weapons maneuver and what to do about it

Feb. 18, 2022

Neither the Missile Defense Agency nor the Space Force have revealed the extent to which they can track hypersonic weapons or how close the United States is to being able to intercept a hypersonic weapon.

Pages