NASA is paving the way for a new, quieter era for supersonic jet planes with its new shock-sensing tool.
The X-59 Quesst, Nasa’s supersonic aircraft, has already been designed with a long and narrow build for a quieter “sonic thump”.
The US space agency is set to test the shock-sensing probe on an F-15B aircraft that will fly with the X-59 in upcoming flights.
The cone-shaped air data device will be used to measure the “sonic thumps” produced by its X-59 jet.
It will provide more accurate data on just how loud the X-59 will be – in hopes it will be quiet enough to fly over land.
Data from the sensors will be vital for validating computer models that predict the strength of the shock waves, according to Nasa.
Researchers will compare data gathered by the probe with predictions from computer models to better evaluate their accuracy.
“A shock-sensing probe acts as the truth source, comparing the predicted data with the real-world measurements,” said Mike Frederick, Nasa principal investigator for the probe.
Researchers at Nasa’s Armstrong Flight Research Centre in California, have developed two versions of the probe.
One version is for capturing shock waves close to the aircraft, and the second is for gathering data at altitudes ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 feet below the X-59.
“The probes have five pressure ports, one at the tip and four around the cone,” added Frederick.
“These ports measure static pressure changes as the aircraft flies through shock waves, helping us understand the shock characteristics of a particular aircraft.”
“Sonic thumps” are the distinctive sound produced by aircraft that travel at supersonic speeds – which is roughly 768mph or faster.
The booming noise is part of the reason supersonic aircraft were banned over land in the US in 1971, and in 2003 in the UK.
In an official podcast released in October, Lori Ozoroski, a project manager at Nasa, explained that the Concorde had its flights drastically limited before it was banned because of the thunderous noise.
“[The Concorde] was limited during its flights that it could not fly, say into, you know, somewhere in the middle of the US. You were not allowed to fly supersonic over land,” said Ozoroski.
“So most of the flights were back and forth just over the ocean. And so again, that ban has been in place for 50 years, over 50 years in the US. A lot of international countries as well have similar bans.
“And so the whole goal of this research that we’re doing right now is to lift that ban and set a speed limit for commercial supersonic aircraft rather than a speed limit.”
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