Oh do we have a treat for you! We're joined by a couple hypersonic "influencers", Dr. Chris Combs of the University of Texas at San Antonio and Alex Hollings, the Editor in Chief of Sandboxx News, for a thrilling, engaging, and occasionally controversial conversation about the state of hypersonics in the world today.
00:00 - Intros
03:06 - What is hypersonics? What is hype and what is reality?
08:58 - Hypersonic planes vs hypersonic weapons
13:07 - What are the most interesting problems in hypersonics?
18:50 - Airplanes are objectively cool
22:00 - Airplane development timelines
24:57 - Testing and developing complex air and spacecraft
37:43 - NASA vs SpaceX development approach
55:27 - Assessing risk and how failure breeds success
58:02 - Perceptions vs reality
01:00:15 - Scramjet, boost-glide, and ramjet hypersonic flight
01:01:42 - Highly coupled systems
01:03:43 - The hardest thing about hypersonics: people
01:10:02 - Alex Hollings on Hermeus and Defense reporting
01:14:41 - Wrap up and where to find Chris and Alex
