NASA, in conjunction with Lockheed Martin, yesterday unveiled its newest invention: the X-59, an experimental - and importantly, quiet - supersonic aircraft.
The futuristic vehicle was revealed in a joint ceremony with Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, the US space agency saying the experimental aircraft is expected to fly at 1488km/h, or 1.4 times the speed of sound.
The 30.4-metre-long and 9-metre-wide aircraft sports a thin, tapered nose that comprises nearly one third of its length, a feature designed to disperse shock waves that would otherwise surround supersonic aircraft, resulting in sonic booms.
The aircraft also features a top-mounted engine and a smooth underside to prevent shock waves from forming behind it and causing sonic booms.
Engineers also positioned the cockpit nearly halfway down the length of the aircraft and replaced the front-facing window with a screen hooked up to a high-resolution camera, an adjustment NASA said would enhance supersonic capabilities.
"We made that decision to make it quieter, but it’s actually an important step forward in and of itself in advancing aviation technology," NASA's deputy administrator Pam Melroy explained of the aircraft's configurations.
“[With the] huge challenge [of] limited visibility in the cockpit, the team developed the external vision system, which really is a marvel of high-resolution cameras feeding an ultra-high-resolution monitor.
"The external vision system has the potential to influence future aircraft designs where the absence of that forward-facing window may prove advantageous for engineering reasons, as it did for us."
The supersonic vehicle is the latest step in the space agency's mission to make commercial supersonic travel possible, and overturn a 50-year-long ban on supersonic travel over land in the US.
The ban came into effect in 1973 due to public concerns over explosive sonic booms that could be heard from several kilometres away, a longstanding issue NASA hopes to overcome.
Speaking on the supersonic travel ban, NASA's associate administrator for its aeronautics research mission Bob Pearce explained that “grounded flight testing showed us it was possible to design an aircraft that would produce a soft thump instead of a sonic boom".
"Is that thump quiet enough to allow supersonic flight over land? Our laboratory studies would say yes, but the real answer can only be found by engaging the people who would hear it during daily life," he said.
NASA said the X-59 is windowed to take its maiden flight later this year, followed by its first quiet supersonic flight.
The agency added that once test flights were finished, the X-59 will fly over several selected US cities and public feedback on the sound it generates will be collected.
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