Speed of sound: NASA developing supersonic airplane

World
Europe

NASA is developing a supersonic airplane which aims to reduce flight times for passengers and limit jet noise.

US aerospace company Lockheed Martin has also been participating in the project.

Designers are aiming for sound levels of around 60 to 65 decibels, similar to the sound of a car running on the highway.

The British-French turbojet powered supersonic passenger airliner Concorde had sound levels of around 90 decibels.

This NASA project aims to produce a commercially viable plane that can help address the growing need for high-speed air transport, which is encouraged by trends such as distributed workforces and international corporate conglomerates.

Photo via Lockheed Martin

NASA wishes to eventually share the plans with airplane equipment manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing and also smaller companies already working on addressing the same market, including Colorado’s Boom Supersonic, according to a report in TechCrunch.

Although it may be music to the ears of regular international travelers, the project may hit a stumbling block in the United States, namely the ban on supersonic travel by the Federal Aviation Administration introduced in 1973.

Bloomberg reported that NASA will start taking bids from aircraft manufacturers starting in August to construct a demo model of the plane.

The space agency proposes investing 390 million US dollars over five years to make the demo plane and test it over populated areas.