NASA is set to fly a jet at ten times the speed of sound or approximately 7,000 miles per hour today in a test over the Pacific Ocean. The jet, an X-43 'scramjet,' hoped to reach and exceed 7,000 mph for approximately 10 seconds.

'What we're trying to do is really get to the reality of flight — find out what does work, what doesn't work. So there is risk in this program,' said Vince Rausch, the program manager of the Hyper-X program. 'We fully anticipate that we've reduced that risk to acceptable levels but you never are sure, especially in doing something for the first time, going Mach 10, until we actually fly.'

The plane is unmanned so no pilot will be placed at risk during the flight. The airplane measures only 12 feet long and five wide. It will be lifted into the air by a Pegasus rocket which will lift the plane to an altitude of 110,000 feet where the flight will take place.

This is the third in a series of X-43 flights NASA has arranged. The first flight was unsuccessful and had to be destroyed when it veered off course. The second flight took place in March of this year and almost reached a speed of 5,000 mph, the fastest time ever recorded for a plane with an air breathing engine. The high speed flights cost NASA approximately $230 million. No future tests are planned after today.