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Nasa unveils quiet supersonic aircraft in effort to revive commercial flights (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 10 months ago by Blaze@discuss.tchncs.de to c/astronomy@mander.xyz

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10656840

In launch event on Friday, agency shared plans to test over US cities to see if it’s quiet enough by engaging ‘the people below’

Nasa has unveiled a one-of-a-kind quiet supersonic aircraft as part of the US space agency’s mission to make commercial supersonic flight possible.

In a joint ceremony with Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, on Friday, Nasa revealed the X-59, an experimental aircraft that is expected to fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound – or 925mph (1,488 km/h).

The aircraft, which stands at 99.7ft (30.4 metres) long and 29.5ft wide, has a thin, tapered nose that comprises nearly a third of the aircraft’s full length – a feature designed to disperse shock waves that would typically surround supersonic aircraft and result in sonic booms.

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[–] Rosco@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Looks pretty damn cool, but supersonic commercial flights will be ridiculously expensive, pollutive and wasteful, there's no going around this. There's zero practical uses for the common man.