Lockheed and NASA Unveil Supersonic Jet X-59 That Curbs Window-Shattering Sonic Boom

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Lockheed Martin Corp. and NASA gave the public a sneak peek of a plane that could pave the way for cutting some flight times in half.  The X-59, which was unveiled on Friday afternoon in Palmdale, California, has been designed to fly faster than the speed of sound with much less noise. When planes break the sound barrier — called Mach 1 — a loud and continuous sonic boom is created that can shatter windows on the ground. The US banned civilian aircraft from reaching this speed over land in 1973.

“This breakthrough really redefines the feasibility of commercial supersonic travel over land,” said Pam Melroy, NASA deputy administrator and a former commander of the space shuttle, during the ceremony to unveil the nearly 100-foot-long (30 meters) plane. “It brings us closer to a future that we can all understand: cutting flight time from New York to Los Angeles in half.”

Lockheed Martin won a NASA contract in 2018 valued at about $250 million to build a demonstrator plane, which has room for one pilot and is powered by General Electric Co.'s F414 engine, to help overcome this hurdle. The aircraft is designed to reach 1.5 times the speed of sound, while reducing a sonic boom to a weak thump with its v-shaped wing and elongated nose. The company originally had expected to fly the X-59 in 2021. The overall project, including testing, will cost about $632 million over eight years, NASA said.

If the X-59 is successful and then applied to commercial aviation, flight times could drastically be reduced. Lockheed has said it will reach speeds of 925 mph (1,489 kph), far surpassing today's single-aisle passenger jets that top out at about 550 mph. Besides overcoming the sonic boom, the industry would have to deal with more stringent noise