It has been decades since a human was first able to break the sound barrier by travelling faster than the speed of sound. Yet this ability has seen very use minimally, especially when it comes to air travel because of an issue related to sonic boom.
It has been claimed that sonic booms, when heard at a close distance, can cause numerous illnesses. But NASA has developed a way to break the sound barrier, without a sonic boom.
History of Supersonic Air Travel
iNews notes that Concorde actually made the supersonic passenger dream a reality before, albeit it was only for travels over the ocean. However, it put an end to supersonic air travlel because of the sonic boom the planes created.
Fortunately, sonic boom has been greatly decreased from its estimated 106 decibels. As part of NASA's "New Aviations Horizons" initiative, the space agency has come up with ways to minimize the sound resulting from supersonic travel. The "New Aviations Horizons" initiative is aimed to solve travel issues - not just that of the sonic boom, but also that of the pollution that flying causes.
At the Edwards Air Force Base, an F/A-18 mission support aircraft performed a series of different maneuvers, each of which demonstrated varying levels of sonic booms. By continuing this practice, NASA hopes to decrease the resulting sound to a mere 75 decibels. As Inverse added, Armstrong Center Director David McBride stated why the demonstration was so important. He said it was all about "getting community responses to see how they feel or perceive the sonic boom."
There were four demonstrations in total -which came in at 104 decibels, 84 decibels, 84 decibels and 77.5 decibels. Participants agreed that the first sound generated was unsettling, but by the fourth and final run, participants stated that it was a tolerable sound. In fact, by the final run, the sound produced was recorded as not even warranting a second thought when heard.
Once NASA is able to perfect the aerodynamics of the aircraft, the same technology will then be applied to commercial aircrafts. This will make it possible for people to travel across oceans and countries, at the speed of sound.
