Date: Around 1993 I have heard that supposed "space plane
prototype" that flew over California and Denmark, and a few
other countries. I read an article which said that it used an
engine which ran on liquid methane. Is this the same as methanol
in cars? Also, is this plane's engine a Scramjet (what is this
engine about?), or what? Methane is a gas from the same "family"
that includes butane, propane, octane, etc. Methanol is an
alcohol and a liquid at room temperature. Liquid methane is cold
methane. Click here to return to the Engineering Archives
Update: June 2012