NASA announced that it began development of a supersonic aircraft "X-Plane" that does not generate a sonic boom

When the speed of the object exceeds the speed of soundSupersonic velocityWhen it reaches, it is bigSonic BoomWill occur. Even if it occurs at a much higher altitude, the Sonic boom will be transmitted to the surface as it is, causing serious noise damage. Therefore it was a common problem that exists in fighter aircraft etc. moving at supersonic speed.NASAIs a supersonic aircraft that can fly without causing a sonic boom "X-PlaneWe are announcing that we will begin the development plan of.

NASA Hires Lockheed Martin to Build Quiet Supersonic X-Plane
https://www.space.com/40187-lockheed-martin-building-quiet-supersonic-jet.html

In order to realize a supersonic X-Plane where no sonic boom occurs,Lockheed MartinWe announced on April 2, 2018 that we have signed a contract with. Lockheed Martin received the commission and will manufacture the aircraft at 247.5 million dollars (about 26.5 billion yen) by 2022.

The announcement of the contract agreement is announced following president Donald Trump signing the 2019 federal budget to fund development of X-Plane. President Trump said about this decision "American companies will develop domestic jobs by developing high-speed commercial aircraft, and if shortening of travel time across countries can be made, it will lead to new market development I can also expect to do that. "

However, since there is no auditorium on the X-Plane to be developed this time, it can not be boarded even if completed. This is because it is necessary to prove first that the sonic boom does not occur even if the X - Plane flies at supersonic speed.


Mr. Jay Won Singh, Deputy Secretary of NASA Aviation Research Division "This manned airplane X-Plane is made with the aim of flying with a small sonic boom. From the middle of 2022, Depending on who is listening to sounds like noise as we plan to fly test cities in the department, please do contact us, "he said, confident that X-Plane will not cause noise It was.

Mr. Shin also said "Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)WhenInternational Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)If you can submit data showing that there is no noise effect due to the test flight on the test flight, you can change the current rule banning supersonic flight of civil aircraft. Once the rules are revised, it will open new doors to the domestic and international aviation industry. "

The planned development of X-Plane is 29 meters in overall length and small business jet size. It will fly at a cruise altitude of 17,000 m altitude and is expected to reach about 1600 km / h which is 1.4 times the speed of sound (about 1200 km / h). A member of NASA officials said, "X-Plane can not fly silently, it will sound as much as to close the door of the car."