Science's fundamental limits would seem to be far off for endeavours like imaging exo-planets or quantum super-computers, but atmospheric flight could already be constrained by physics. The amount of heat from atmospheric friction at each Mach number above Mach 5, where hypersonics starts, is exponentiaWI; a hellscape far more challenging than the sound barrier. Space capsules protect themselves with materials that reentry's heat burns away, and NASA's Space Shuttle had ceramic tiles to defend against that tremendous friction. The likes of Virgin Galactic talk about highspeed point-to-point transport services and start-up Hermeus has announced a Mach 5 airliner, but for airline like operations evaporating materials are of no use, though Shuttle tiles point towards what is needed and the limits of the periodic table.
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