ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Hypersonic speed

Hypersonic speed is when something goes really, really fast - even faster than an airplane! Just like when you run really fast, you feel the wind blowing through your hair and it's hard to breathe, things that go hypersonic also face very strong winds and can get very hot.

When something travels faster than Mach 5 - that's five times the speed of sound - it's considered hypersonic. To help you understand how fast that is - imagine a race car going around a track at 150 miles per hour. That's really fast, right? Now, imagine going five times faster than that!

Some vehicles like planes and missiles can go hypersonic, but it requires special technology and materials to withstand the extreme heat and pressure they face. These vehicles have to be designed very carefully to make sure they don't break apart or burn up when they are traveling so fast.

Scientists and engineers study hypersonic speed and try to come up with new ways to make things go faster and travel further. They even use special wind tunnels and computer simulations to test new designs and make sure they can handle the extreme conditions of hypersonic flight.

In summary, hypersonic speed is when something goes super fast - faster than a car, a train or even an airplane! It's very exciting, but also very difficult to achieve and requires a lot of special materials and technology to make it happen.