Can commercial supersonic flights become commonplace? Yes. NASA has formally presented its experimental X-59 aircraft. It is capable of breaking the sound barrier without causing hardly any noise. The supersonic and silent aircraft solves one of the main problems that these aircraft bring.
The X-59 is the result of collaboration with the aeronautical company Lockheed Martin. It plans to make its first flight this year. It will fly over certain populated areas to collect data on silent supersonic flights, their effects and their reception in those communities.
Loud noises
Its objective is to pave the way for a new generation of commercial flights. They will be able to move faster than the speed of sound and reduce the duration of the routes by half. From New York to London, for example, in just three hours.
The plane is the futuristic and minimalist vision of the fusion between an airplane and an arrow. It is 30 meters long and 9 meters wide. A third of its fuselage is made up of the nose, long and thin like a stork's beak. This prevents the accumulation of sound waves that cause the characteristic boom of supersonic aviation. It is made to reduce noise to a minimum. The cockpit is in the middle of the fuselage. He is guided by the images offered by high-definition cameras and augmented reality. The only engine is placed on top of the ship. It will be able to fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound, or 1,485 kilometers per hour.
Commercial supersonic flights over land are prohibited. It is due to the inconvenience caused to the populations by the loud noise of crossing the sound barrier. Test flights over populated cities will serve to prove that this concept is not noisy.
Sustainable
The supersonic and silent aircraft prepares for its debut flight. After your first takeoff and landing, the next step will be to complete a supersonic flight.
The dream of commercial hypersonic flights still has a long way to go. According to NASA, to make these plans viable it is necessary to improve other aspects. For example, fuel consumption efficiency or emissions reduction. “It has to be sustainable,” reminds the space agency.
