With the X-59, the American space agency NASA and aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin presented a supersonic aircraft on Friday that can not only fly through the sound barrier, but also do so quietly.
First a quick overview of the properties of the X-59: the aircraft is 30 meters long, 9 meters wide and is expected to reach a top speed of 1.4 times the speed of sound. Or 1,488 kilometers per hour. The travel time for a one-way ticket from Brussels to New York would be halved: from 7 to 8 hours to less than 4.
The (now defunct) Concorde was also able to do that, you say? True, but in order to break the sound barrier, the Concorde had to make an immense noise, which meant that the aircraft was only allowed to fly supersonic over the sea. The covers.
No windshields
To further improve the aircraft’s supersonic capabilities, the cockpit was moved almost halfway and the windshields were removed. The pilots can no longer look through the window, but are assisted by an external vision system. “An important advance for all of aviation technology,” said NASA’s Pam Melroy. “And a marvel of high-resolution cameras feeding an ultra-high-resolution monitor. This system has the potential to influence all future aircraft designs.”
To prevent shock waves from forming behind the aircraft and causing sound waves (read: loud bangs), the engine was also mounted on top and the aircraft has a smooth bottom.
The flying in the US to collect public feedback about the sound the device makes,” NASA reports.