NASA Unveils Aircraft That Can Travel Faster Than Speed Of Sound. See Pic

In keeping with its goal of enabling commercial supersonic travel, American space agency NASA unveiled a new quiet supersonic aircraft on Friday. The X-59 is an experimental aircraft that NASA created in a joint event with Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. Its predicted top speed is 1.4 times the speed of sound or 1,488 kilometres per hour. The aircraft is set to take off for the first time later this year, followed by its first quiet supersonic flight. 

The aircraft's thin, tapered nose, which makes up about a third of its total length, is intended to deflect shock waves that would normally surround supersonic planes and cause sonic booms. The aircraft is 99.7 feet long and 29.5 feet broad. Engineers eliminated the forward-facing windows that are normally present in other aircraft and placed the cockpit nearly halfway down the length of the aircraft in an effort to improve its supersonic performance. The engine is mounted on top and scientists "gave it a smooth underside to help keep shockwaves from merging behind the aircraft and causing a sonic boom."

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said in a press release, "This is a major accomplishment made possible only through the hard work and ingenuity from NASA and the entire X-59 team. In just a few short years we've gone from an ambitious concept to reality. NASA's X-59 will help change the way we travel, bringing us closer together in much less time."

NASA's Quesst mission, which aims to provide information to assist regulators in re-evaluating regulations that forbid commercial supersonic flying over land, is centred around the X-59. Due to the disruptive effects of the loud, unexpected sonic booms on the nearby towns, the United States and other countries have banned these flights for the past 50 years. It is anticipated that the X-59 would travel at 1.4 times the speed of sound and the jet's shape, design, and technology will enable it to reach these speeds with a less audible thud.

After the flight testing is finished, NASA will fly the aircraft over selected cities in the US to get feedback on the sound the X-59 produces and how people hear it. The Federal Aviation Administration and foreign regulators will be provided with the data from NASA.

According to The Guardian, Bob Pearce, NASA's Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research Mission added, "Grounded flight testing showed us it was possible to design an aircraft that would produce a soft thump instead of a sonic boom. Is that thump quiet enough to allow supersonic flight over land? Our laboratory studies would say yes, but the real answer can only be found by engaging the people who would hear it during daily life."