A narrative of NASA’s X-59 and supersonic aircraft.
NASA's X-59 Supersonic aircraft was recently unveiled. How does this change the future of supersonic aviation?
The Concorde was a revelation of its time; it possessed engineering mastery that was previously unthinkable. It broke the barriers of what humans perceived as possible and paved the way for a bright future for supersonic aircraft. But, suddenly, in 2003, it stopped. The Concorde was too ahead of its time; society was simply not ready for it. It truly was outstanding in its capabilities, but life down here on Earth has become slightly more uncomfortable because of it.
Sonic booms from the aircraft breaking the sound barrier (hence the name supersonic) proved to be disastrous, restricting the aircraft from operating over land. Shattered windows of houses, maintenance, high fares, and low availability were all factors that led to the downfall of “The Time Machine”.
But now, 20 years later, NASA and Lockheed Martin have brought something to the aviation table that fixes all these issues and brings more laurels for passengers. The X-59 Quesst was recently unveiled at a NASA convention, and its beauty stood out throughout the crowd as people marveled at such an aircraft. NASA fixed the sonic boom by simply making the nose a bit "pointier,” claiming that it would help break up the shock waves that are released when an object breaks the sound barrier. These claims have not yet been verified as the flight test has not yet been conducted. If these aircraft roll into operations in the coming years, we will then be able to make a judgement on the effects of operations on day-to-day city life.
Euro news reports that the X-59 will “help change the way we travel, bringing us closer together in much less time.”
.Somewhat like how the Concorde helped families across the Atlantic to be mere hours away from one another, the X-59 truly has the potential to make the world much more interconnected, somewhat ironic given how distant we’ve become during all this virtual reality façade.
NASA, in an official press release, claims that the sonic boom, which, as mentioned before, was the main issue for the closing of the Concorde program, will be replaced by a soft sonic "thump.”
Further testing and deliberation by aircraft authorities will tell the public whether these aircraft have the potential to reign supreme over the skies. Something interesting to deliberate upon is how Boeing and Airbus would react to these airplanes; pushing R&D is something Boeing doesn’t have a good history with! – Seattle Times
Specifics about how the Sonic Boom is reduced by the technicals of the aircraft design have not been released yet.
PS: Notice the difference in the noses!
Very good 👏👏