An Overview of NASA's Low Boom Flight Demonstration
NASA will soon begin a series of tests that will collect nationally representative data on how people perceive low noise supersonic overflights. For half a century, civilian aircraft have been required to fly slower than the speed of sound over land to prevent “creating an unacceptable situation” on the ground due to sonic booms. However, new aircraft shaping techniques have led to dramatic changes in how shockwaves from supersonic flight merge together as they travel to the ground. What used to sound like a boom on the ground will be transformed into a thump. NASA is now building a full-scale, piloted demonstration aircraft called the X-59 to demonstrate low noise supersonic flight. In 2024, the X-59 aircraft will commence a national series of community overflight tests to collect data on how people perceive “sonic thumps.” The community response data will be provided to national and international noise regulators as they consider creating new standards that allow supersonic flight over land at acceptably low noise levels.