Fifty years after a US ban, the door is cracked open again to faster-than-sound travel over land. And experts think they finally have an issue that killed it.

The skies of Oklahoma City roared for six months in 1964 as military aircraft intentionally rattled the population below with a daily barrage of thunderous sonic booms. It was a controversial test — the consequences of which have lingered to this day.

Two approaches in the works could revolutionize air travel by making future supersonic passenger planes compliant with the FAA’s new noise rules: Colorado-based company Boom Supersonic, which is specifically mentioned in the FAA proposal, plans to use physics to prevent sonic booms from ever reaching the ground, regardless of plane design. NASA, on the other hand, is flying an experimental plane called X-59 that is specifically designed to reduce the intensity of the boom.

  • Dozzi92@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 hours ago

    Why are there so many grammatical errors in this article?

    But the test was a major catalyst would eventually spell doom for commercial supersonic journeys over the United States.

    Now, some 50 years on from the ban, a new era of supersonic flight seems within reach. The FAA in June for reimagined rules on supersonic flight.

    Jacopo needs to step up the proofreading because it’s distracting having to reread a sentence.