A Concorde plane made its last landing nearly twenty years ago, and supersonic commercial flights ended with it. Perhaps the biggest obstacle that kept Concorde from pioneering a new generation of aircraft was the sonic boom created when an aircraft broke through the sound barrier. Predictably, there were those who were dissatisfied with the loud explosions that could shatter windows as they passed over residential areas. The sonic boom problem had to be resolved if supersonic flight was to become viable once again.
This is where NASA’s X-59 experimental aircraft comes in, with a plan to break the sound barrier in a completely new way. This plan includes a “sonic blow”.
Designed to reduce the loud sonic boom to a quieter sonic “pulse,” the X-59 has rekindled dreams of touring the world in a matter of hours, and with an upcoming test, the X-59 could go down in history as a tremendous success.
In 2023, NASA will take delivery of the aircraft from Lockheed Martin, and the following year it will move into the next phase of the Qusst Mission, where the X-59 will travel over residential areas and become supersonic. Residents will then be surveyed on the impact of the aircraft, including how loud and disturbing this “blow” was. If testing confirms the X-59’s quiet and fast characteristics, NASA will make a request to regulators to reconsider the ban on aircraft reaching supersonic speeds on land.
The fate of supersonic planes may change
This will also have the advantage that will make the X-59 enter the history books, as current laws only require aircraft to go supersonic above 9,145 meters or over water. This law, which is present in most countries, is currently one of the main reasons why planes always travel at a maximum speed of 926 kilometers per hour.
The sonic boom produced when an aircraft crosses the sound barrier is the result of compressed pressure waves at the front and rear of the aircraft combining into a single shock wave. These waves move together as they can no longer be separated from each other due to the speed reached. Many people believe that the sonic boom only happens when the plane first moves to Mach 1 (above the speed of sound 1,235 kilometers per hour), but this is not entirely true. The shock waves are heard by everyone over whom the aircraft is flying.
The X-59 was an airplane concept that computer models predicted would produce a much quieter sonic boom, and NASA called it a “sonic pulse.” While this design isn’t ideal (no shock waves are obviously preferable), it aims to significantly reduce the noise and potential damage created by a sonic boom, which both Lockheed Martin and NASA hope will allow the ban on supersonic commercial flights over land to be lifted.
“We’ve been stuck on our planes at approximately Mach .8 for the last 50 years, so getting there much faster—wherever it is—is still a dream come true,” said Peter Coen, NASA’s Quesst mission integration manager. I think we’re ready to break the sound barrier once again.”
The aircraft passed major tests earlier this year and is now preparing for its maiden flight in 2023. If there are no problems, a commercial supersonic flight may become generally available before 2030.
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