High-Speed Wind Tunnel Built in AME Building to Advance Hypersonic Flight for US Navy

Engineers are installing three 20-foot-long tubes for a new high-speed wind tunnel in the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Building, ushering in an era of hypersonic discovery at the University of Arizona.

"There have been peaks and valleys in U.S. hypersonic research since World War II," said assistant professor Stuart "Alex" Craig, who joined the UA Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in 2016. "With China and Russia flight-testing hypersonic drone aircraft whose missile payloads can strike targets thousands of miles away in less than an hour, we’re definitely seeing an uptick."