Created along with Lockheed Martin, a new aircraft is designed to reduce the sonic boom created by traveling faster than the speed of sound to a sonic thump.
NASA has shown off its new quiet supersonic aircraft, the X-59. Created along with Lockheed Martin, the aircraft is designed to reduce the sonic boom created by traveling faster than the speed of sound to what the agency calls a “sonic thump.” Supersonic flights over land are currently forbidden due to the noise disturbance they cause, and the X-59 is an experimental aircraft aimed at reducing this noise to something more tolerable to those on the ground.
At an event today, Friday January 12, NASA debuted the aircraft ahead of testing. Its first flight is scheduled for later this year. In a statement, NASA said that it aims to use this one-of-a-kind airplane to gather data and pave the way for future commercial supersonic aircraft.
