A quieter supersonic aeroplane

NASA and Lockheed Martin are building a unique aircraft intended to reduce a sonic “boom” to a sonic “thump”, thanks to a very long nose that will reshape shock waves during supersonic flight


Artist’s impression of how X-59 QueSST (mash-up of Quiet Supersonic Technology) could look in flight

 
DIMENSIONS
63° 
68.6°
76°
63°
Extremely long nose – about 11.5m
Single-seat cockpit. Pilot has no forward view – relies on video feed from two external cameras

8.99m

30.35m
4.27m


HOW SONIC BOOM OCCURS

Below Mach 1: Pressure waves form in front of and behind plane

Mach 1: At speed of sound – 1,235 km/h – waves are compressed

Above Mach 1: Waves merge into shockwave

Mach cone
                                                     
Merged shockwave generates 110 decibels of sound energy, like thunderclap – which led to ban on commercial supersonic flights over United States. Unique shape of X-59 is expected to reduce noise to around 75db, like car door closing, allowing ban to be lifted


Sources: Lockheed Martin, NASA, Popular Science 
Picture: NASA/Unsplash 
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