In launch event on Friday, agency shared plans to test over US cities to see if it’s quiet enough by engaging ‘the people below’

In launch event on Friday, agency shared plans to test over US cities to see if it’s quiet enough by engaging ‘the people below’

Nasa has unveiled a one-of-a-kind quiet supersonic aircraft as part of the US space agency’s mission to make commercial supersonic flight possible.

In a joint ceremony with Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, on Friday, Nasa revealed the X-59, an experimental aircraft that is expected to fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound – or 925mph (1,488 km/h).

The aircraft, which stands at 99.7ft (30.4 metres) long and 29.5ft wide, has a thin, tapered nose that comprises nearly a third of the aircraft’s full length – a feature designed to disperse shock waves that would typically surround supersonic aircraft and result in sonic booms.

  • awwwyissss@lemm.ee
    37·
    10 months ago

    Why are tax dollars going to something that will only benefit a small percentage of people and will cause relatively bad environmental damage.

    • GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
      31·
      10 months ago

      Are you aware what NASA stands for?

      I personally am happy some of my tax dollars go towards advancing science.

      The reason we have issues in society…homeless people, lack of universal healthcare, etc is not because we find NASA, it’s via mismanagement of the funds we have, and bad politics, etc. None of which are NASAs fault or purpose.

      NASA does a huge amount of environmental research as well. But part of their team focuses on experimental flight, and this is a product of that.

      • awwwyissss@lemm.ee
        31·
        10 months ago

        I’m happy to fund science too, but this isn’t the time to develop even more fuel-intensive commercial travel options.

    • Cocodapuf@lemmy.world
      1·
      10 months ago

      Nasa is always researching supersonic/hypersonic travel, that’s what a space agency does.

      It would be hard to list ALL of the ways that research benefits you.

      • awwwyissss@lemm.ee
        2·
        10 months ago

        Yeah but it doesn’t usually research how to make commercials transportation way less fuel efficient.

        “The New York Times looked at the same comparison in the late 1970s when rising fuel prices were causing major difficulties for Concorde. It concluded that Concorde used four times the amount of fuel of the 747, based on a New York to Paris flight. These comparisons are even worse when looking on a per passenger basis – Concorde, of course, only took 100 passengers, compared to well over 400 on the 747-400.” source

        Planes are already a bad source of pollution, this makes it 8 times worse. Awful.