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A supersonic jet aircraft designed to make very little noise is flying over the southern region for the first time this week California desert shortly after sunrise, which could be the first step toward much faster commercial travel, according to NASA.
NASA and American weapons and aerospace manufacturers Lockheed Martin On Tuesday, a jet that is capable of traveling faster than the speed of sound was successfully tested.
Supersonic jets may seem futuristic, but planes have been capable of flying this fast since the 1940s. The problem is that ultra-fast planes are banned for commercial travel on land because they create an explosive – and frightening – “sonic boom” that irritates the public.
If NASA and Lockheed Martin can successfully reduce volume, the new jet could reduce travel time between locations. new york city And los angeles In about half that time, an entirely new air travel industry opened up.
The X-59 is capable of flying faster than the speed of sound, which Lockheed Martin described as only a “slight rumble”. Tuesday’s test flight was still slower than the speed of sound and was intended primarily to test the aircraft’s structural integrity. Nevertheless, it was celebrated as an important step towards widespread use of supersonic travel.
The compact, 100-foot (30 m) aircraft was launched from the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, about 60 miles (100 km) north of Los Angeles, touched down over the desert and landed near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, about 40 miles (64 km) away.
According to NASA, the first airplane to go faster than the speed of sound – or 767 mph (1,235 kph) – flew nearly 80 years ago in 1947. But flights at that speed over land in the United States were soon banned in response to the vote. Residents complained that the noise echoed that of larger cities, rattling windows and startling the public.
There were transatlantic supersonic flights with British Airways and Air France began operations in the 1970s but were grounded in 2003 after demand for the expensive service declined following a fatal crash three years earlier.
NASA and Lockheed Martin have been working for years on a solution that would remove the noise and lead to regulatory changes that would make commercial supersonic travel possible, largely within the United States.