Australia To L.A. in 1 Hour: This Nasa handout photo shows the X-43A scramjet on the nose of a modified Pegasus booster rocket dropping away from the Nasa B-52B launch aircraft over the Pacific Ocean en route to breaking its own aircraft-speed record by flying the X-43A at about 7,000mph -- about 10 times the speed of sound, after taking off from Nasa Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The pilotless scramjet screeched across the Pacific Ocean with Nasa scientists nervously monitoring its second test flight. It was the second record to have been claimed in eight months. PHOTO: AFP