Meet NASA’s X-59: An ultraquiet supersonic jet that just made history with its first test flight
NASA and Lockheed Martin experimental experiment The X-59 aircraft took flight for the first time, making history as the first supersonic aircraft designed to emit a gentle “thud” instead of thunderous sonic booms.
The X-59’s flight marks a major step toward supersonic commercial travel, which has been banned in the United States since 1973.
The test flight was expected to last about an hourtaking off from Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, and landing at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on October 28. The plane reached a maximum speed of about 240 miles per hour (386 kilometers per hour) and flew about 12,000 feet (3,658 meters) above the ground. It did not reach supersonic speeds for this test, focused on verifying critical systems.
According to Lockheed Martin SpecificationsThe X-59 has a top speed of Mach 1.4, or 925 mph (1,489 km/h), almost twice as fast as a Boeing 747. It is designed to fly at an altitude of 55,000 feet (16,764 m). The aircraft has a wingspan of 30 feet (9.1 m), a height of 14 feet (4.3 m) and a whopping length of 100 feet (30.5 m), giving it a strong resemblance to a swordfish.
From the side, the plane’s incredibly long nose appears to taper to a point, but it is actually shaped like a scissor. The shape of the nose is designed to change the shape of the shock waves generated by supersonic flight, making the aircraft much quieter than the supersonic jets used today. These are prohibited from flying over populated areas of the United States due to their powerful sonic booms.
Sonic booms are caused by shock waves emitted by rapidly compressed air, similar to thunder. When a plane flies, it pushes the air in front of it, creating pressure waves. When a plane goes supersonic, the pressure waves can’t move apart quickly enough, so they combine into one large shock wave, resulting in a sonic boom.
A controversial six-month test over Oklahoma City in 1964 showed that sonic booms emitted by supersonic planes flying too close to the ground could shatter windows, cause minor damage to buildings and startle people. At the end of the study, more than 1 in 4 people Respondents said they couldn’t learn to live with sonic booms.
To reduce the impact of the arrows, the X-59’s design separates the usual shock wave into several smaller shock waves, resulting in “thuds” that are about the same volume as a car door slamming.
The shock waves that cause sonic booms can be observed with Schlieren imagerya type of specialized photography invented in 1864 by August Toepler, a German physicist. It depends on how changes in atmospheric pressure distort the light passing through it. Shock wave imaging helps us understand whether the aerodynamics of the plane match what has been modeled using computers and small aircraft models in wind tunnels.
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