Author Topic: NASA’s new X-59 plane is designed to break the sound barrier quietly  (Read 367 times)

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Online Elderberry

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BGR by Joshua Hawkins 1/4/2023

NASA is trying to break the sound barrier in a new and exciting way. Normally when something breaks the sound barrier, it creates a massive sonic boom heard miles away, depending on the plane’s altitude. However, NASA’s X-59 plane will try to break the barrier without creating a sonic boom.

The move is part of NASA’s Quesst mission, which is working with aeronautical innovators at Lockheed Martin to create a plane that is capable of breaking the sound barrier while also doing it more quietly than normal. NASA says that it has been over seventy-five years since the first sonic boom rang out across the California desert.

When it happened, NASA’s X-1 team managed to do what many believed impossible. The space agency is looking to continue that trend in 2023 when it launches the X-59, which it originally planned to test over Texas in 2018.

More: https://bgr.com/science/nasas-new-x-59-plane-is-designed-to-break-the-sound-barrier-quietly/