NASA wants to build a “quiet” supersonic spacecraft

The space company is developing an aircraft capable of breaking the sound barrier without making noise that the public cannot bear.

While the Concord was in operation between 1976 and 2003, it encountered several difficulties with noise in the passage of the sound barrier, the supersonic “boom”. Concrete cities were banned from flying over the area due to noise pollution.

This problem can be solved by a “quiet” supersonic aircraft developed by NASA and the US Defense and Defense Agency’s Lockheed Martin. Flight Name ” X-59 QueSST “, For that”Quiet supersonic technologyThe first copy is being collected. NASA plans to launch the first aircraft in early 2022.

⁇The X-59 has a unique design and supersonic technology ”Described Scientific focus NASA scientist Peter Goyan is directing the project.A long and slender nose is designed to control the force and position of a machine on the surface of the trunk and its “external view system” (Editor’s note: screen for pilot without direct external view). Shock waves, to create a soft sound on the ground.⁇

25 decibel decrease

The sound output produced by a conventional aircraft is over 100 decibels. NASA and Lockheed Martin hope to reduce the noise to 75 decibels. To distinguish these figures, it should be remembered that a decrease of 3 decibels halves the intensity of the sound level. If we subtract 6 decibels, we divide the volume by 4. In this case, the volume should be divisible by 256. Finally, by comparison, a conversation usually reaches around 60 dB, while a vacuum cleaner often reaches 90 dB.

Developed within the framework of the “X-59 QueSST Project”Low Boom Flight Demonstrator(LBFD) from NASA, as the name implies, is trying to prove that it can fly at supersonic speeds without the characteristic of tin. The aircraft must fly at Mach 1.42 or 1,510 km / h without sound problems.

Especially the elongated form

The aircraft is 29.5 meters long and 9 meters wide, but the current model can only carry one person. If the prototype is successful, its design will be used to build new commercial aircraft.

The X-59 is powered by a single high-powered engine similar to fighter jets. It is located at the top of the aircraft so that its noise is kept away from those on the ground. The X-59 has a particularly elongated shape to propagate high-speed vibrational waves through the trunk. To solve the poor vision problem caused by the device’s long nose, engineers implemented a combination of sensors and screens instead of traditional windows.

Currently, NASA and Lockheed Martin are testing the aircraft on simulators. The first tests in real conditions are scheduled for 2022.