We feel the need…the need for speed. ✈
You’re looking at one of the first-ever images of shockwaves interacting from two supersonic aircraft in flight. This image of planes moving faster than the speed of sound was captured in 2019. Previously, images of aircraft shockwaves, called Schlieren images, were only achievable in small-scale wind tunnels.
Novel techniques were used to capture colorized composite images which reveal rippling shockwaves representing different densities of compressed air impacting the jets. Although accomplishments in their own right, these innovations will be put to use supporting @nasaaero’s QUESST mission. QUESST, seeks to fly an experimental aircraft, the X-59, at supersonic speed, but instead of producing shockwaves that generate a telltale loud supersonic boom, it will employ technology to minimize its shockwaves into only a quiet sonic thump.
Currently, over-land supersonic flight is prohibited in most of the world, as loud sonic booms disrupt life underneath traveling supersonic aircraft. However, this new imaging technology will allow scientists to collect a wealth of data from QUESST test flights to present to regulators. With data demonstrating the feasibility of technology to enable a new quiet type of supersonic flight regulators may change laws to enable quiet commercial supersonic flight over land—cutting many flight times in half.
#NASA#Aeronautics#QUESST#X59#Travel#Supersonic#Flight#Aircraft#Planes#Speed#OSH22#airventure#oshkosh#TopGun
Credit: NASA
Alt Text: Two supersonic jets fly in formation, generating shockwaves. In the center of the image are two grey jets diagonal from one another. From the rear of each aircraft, long, straight plumes of orange-colored exhaust are visible in this false-colorized image. Ripples of compressed air impacting the jets are visible emanating from the nose, wings, and rear stabilizers of each jet; the peaks of each ripple are represented in black, and the troughs of the ripples are represented in shades of yellow which dissipate into bright orange. The background of the image is primarily shades of orange.