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NASA is Showering One City With Sonic Booms and Hoping No One Notices (cnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the work-in-progress dept.

Eric Mack, reporting for CNET: NASA has been deliberately creating sonic booms off the coast of Galveston, Texas, since Monday in the hope that residents on the barrier island community won't be too bothered by the sound of an F/A-18 aircraft briefly going supersonic. That's because the research jet is performing a dive maneuver designed to reduce the normally thunderous sonic boom to what NASA calls a "quiet thump," more like the sound of a car door slamming. The test flights are aimed at measuring the community response to the new, quieter booms and are part of NASA's larger effort to develop a new, more muted supersonic plane that might be able to fly over land. Current regulations prohibit flights over land that generate sonic booms.

53 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Land that generates sonic booms? by enigma32 · · Score: 1

    Just what kind of land is it that generates sonic booms?

  2. All well and good until by nwaack · · Score: 2

    the pilot does the maneuver wrong and shatters every home and car window in a 1000 foot radius.

    1. Re: All well and good until by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Why are you going supersonic at only 1000ft AGL?

    2. Re: All well and good until by nwaack · · Score: 1

      1000ft radius ON THE GROUND.

    3. Re:All well and good until by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I was watching a movie once in a theater, and the Blue Angels hit a sonic boom before they got over the ocean and the whole place shook, and the screen itself was also rocking back and forth after they passed. They tend to get in trouble for this sort of thing, there are strict rules about sonic booms. But you know how it is about fighter jocks and rules.

    4. Re:All well and good until by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      JAXA (Japan's space agency) has been doing similar experiments for a few years now. The plan is to develop the technology using the dive technique and then extend it to work in level flight.

      Diving also has another advantage for testing. It's easier to go supersonic in a dive thanks to gravity assist, and you don't have to worry so much about control surfaces and stability in the tricky transition region which frees you up to concentrate on reducing the sonic boom.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  3. Re:What kind of strange land is that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Volcanoes and earthquakes, dummy. If you're gonna try to be witty, at least think it through.

  4. Re:It's Texas. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I think they know they live in Texas. There are bullets flying everywhere, you can't walk 10 feet without stepping in cow shit, and the governor wears nerd glasses because he thinks it makes him look smarter.

  5. Nothing new by Archfeld · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I live in SW Arizona and the air show that goes on here regularly includes F35's at low altitude, Raptors doing test runs and touchdowns for half the year, Marine air copters, A10's all training and providing a private air show at the Marine Air base, and the Yuma Proving grounds. Nothing beats a cold brew, and vaporizer and a great air show pool side in the evening. Last showing ends promptly at 22:00.
    Come enjoy the show - Karn Evil (ELP)

    --
    errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
    1. Re:Nothing new by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      That all sounds fucking cool except the Arizona part.

    2. Re:Nothing new by Archfeld · · Score: 1

      Part of the year Arizona is an awesome place to be. In the winter it is 80F and sunny almost all the time. Why do you think thousands of snow birds come here during the cool times to enjoy the wonderful climate. During July of course it is hell on earth, but everything, and I do mean everything is air conditioned here.

      https://www.snowbirdadvisor.ca...

      In the summer I go back to the SF bay area in California and enjoy the wonderful climate there.

      --
      errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
  6. Please no, Hell no... by mysidia · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "quiet thump," more like the sound of a car door slamming

    Please no.... Just because you want to fly your plane a little bit faster.
    It's totally unjustifiable forcing me to be exposed to noise equivalent to a car door slamming at random: that's still an unfair violation of my right to seclusion and peaceful enjoyment of my property that is well aways from any city or other place subject to routine manmade noises, and also, especially if i'm trying to record audio of nature, etc --- An unwanted intrusion is an unwanted intrusion --- fly your crap around my land only if you can guarantee no unnatural noise, noise pollution, or other interference or trespass, at all.

    1. Re:Please no, Hell no... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I don't think many people will have sympathy for your intolerance of a car door closing when they have to live with far worse constantly. Few people have the luxury of living in a secluded enough area to regularly enjoy purely natural sounds, let alone all the time without interruption.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Please no, Hell no... by MobyDisk · · Score: 4, Funny

      I recommend that you train animals to make the sound of car doors slamming, so that in your recordings you will never know if it was a natural sound or a man-made one.

    3. Re:Please no, Hell no... by yodleboy · · Score: 1

      yeah they are going to be absolutely CIRCLING your house... A commercial supersonic aircraft isn't coming any time soon even once the sonic boom is addressed. On top of that, when it DOES happen, it will be a few planes on a few daily runs for a long time to come. Assuming you're still alive at that point, and still living where you currently do, it's pretty slim odds that you would ever hear one of these things.

        when you hear a thump two or three times a day, just pretend it's a tree falling in the woods and get all philosophical about it.

    4. Re:Please no, Hell no... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      They already have that in Texas, but it's weird, they make them wear these giant hats and high-heel boots!

    5. Re:Please no, Hell no... by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Even when I go 50 miles up into the mountains to pick wild mushrooms, there are still airplanes buzzing over.

      But the US is a big place... maybe parts of north Alaska there wouldn't be anything flying low most of the year.

    6. Re:Please no, Hell no... by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      "...right to seclusion and peaceful enjoyment of my property..."

      I don't believe there is any such right.

      If you want to live in absolute seclusion, go live in a country that has no meaningful airforce.
      I'm sure you can find reasonably-priced, remote property in Zaire. No sonic booms at all. Enjoy.

      --
      -Styopa
    7. Re:Please no, Hell no... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Where do you live that there's no air traffic? Seems like everywhere I go I'm hearing jet engines that are louder than a car door closing anyway. And I'm talking some pretty boondockish spots, there's just always some rich guys who can afford to fly into the area.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    8. Re:Please no, Hell no... by TheCastro1689 · · Score: 1

      You do know a commercial supersonic plane came, for like 30 years, and went?

    9. Re:Please no, Hell no... by TheCastro1689 · · Score: 1

      Go near Area 51, no planes there except the ones coming from that base sometimes.

    10. Re:Please no, Hell no... by yodleboy · · Score: 1

      A NEW commercial supersonic plane. Is that better? Point remains, if ticket prices are even half what Concorde's were, this will be a niche market, serving coast to coast travelers and international travelers. Your odds of being impacted by the noise are low. REGULAR airliners have to follow strict noise abatement procedures. No reason to think a supersonic plane would be any different near a major airport,

    11. Re:Please no, Hell no... by ncc74656 · · Score: 1

      You do know a commercial supersonic plane came, for like 30 years, and went?

      ...and it wasn't allowed to fly over land, which greatly limited its usefulness. This is about an effort to develop commercial supersonic aircraft that can fly over land without rattling windows, spooking livestock, etc.

      --
      20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
    12. Re:Please no, Hell no... by sound+vision · · Score: 1

      People be puffin on that Elon Musk in Denver though.

    13. Re:Please no, Hell no... by mysidia · · Score: 1

      I recommend that you train animals to make the sound of car doors slamming

      I was thinking of fitting helmets with attack lasers onto the heads of some birds and training them to home in on and take out anything that sounds like a door slamming.

    14. Re:Please no, Hell no... by mysidia · · Score: 1

      I don't believe there is any such right.

      Of course there is... it's literally called a Landowner's Right to Quiet Enjoyment, and
      interfering with that results in a legal tort for which one can be sued called Private Nuisance

      A private nuisance is an interference with a person's enjoyment and use of his land. The law recognizes that landowners, or those in rightful possession of land, have the right to the unimpaired condition of the property and to reasonable comfort and convenience in its occupation.

      Examples of private nuisances abound. Nuisances that interfere with the physical condition of the land include vibration or blasting that damages a house; destruction of crops; raising of a water table; or the pollution of soil, a stream, or an underground water supply. Examples of nuisances interfering with the comfort, convenience, or health of an occupant are foul odors, noxious gases, smoke, dust, loud noises, excessive light, or high temperatures. Moreover, a nuisance may also disturb an occupant's mental tranquility, such as a neighbor who keeps a vicious dog, even though an injury is only threatened and has not actually occurred.

      An attractive nuisance is a danger likely to lure children onto a person's land. For example, an individual who has a pool on his property has a legal obligation to take reasonable precautions, such as erecting a fence, to prevent foreseeable injury to children.

      Trespass is sometimes confused with nuisance, but the two are distinct. A trespass action protects against an invasion of one's right to exclusive possession of land. If a landowner drops a tree across her neighbor's boundary line she has committed a trespass; if her dog barks all night keeping the neighbor awake, she may be liable for nuisance.

      Legal Responsibility
      A private nuisance is a tort, that is, a civil wrong. To determine accountability for an alleged nuisance, a court will examine three factors: the defendant's fault, whether there has been a substantial interference with the plaintiff's interest, and the reasonableness of the defendant's conduct.

    15. Re:Please no, Hell no... by mysidia · · Score: 1

      Sensitive little snowflake that doesn't mind thunder that can crack windows

      You're the melodramatic snowflake here --- there's no thunder that cracks windows, and the sound is natural.

      Generally, when it thunders that occurs at predictable times and it's raining, and I go indoors when it's raining, anyways.
      There's a difference between acts of god and manmade disturbances coming out of the blue.

    16. Re:Please no, Hell no... by mysidia · · Score: 1

      I don't think many people will have sympathy for your intolerance of a car door closing

      It's NOT a car door closing -- its part a sonic boom that they Claim in their words to be similar in ordinary sounding in their hopes to a car door closing - they aren't supplying a maximum number of decibels on the ground --- they ask different people to rank the loudness, and some people say they hear a Medium-Loud, and others say they hear a Loud boom.....

      Guess how loud it's going to sound to you outside, if you are at a heightened elevation; if it sounds like a "Car door closing" when indoors at sea level?
      It's going to be friggin' loud, that's what.

        The boom varies; today it might be a thump, and tomorrow they may maneuver their plane differently and you have the potential to be one one of the unlucky 2 or 3 to get a sonic blast that shatters your windows ----- that's a bit unsettling and what you call a nuisance; you're part of an unwanted human experiment where you're at risk, and consent was never granted for this.

    17. Re:Please no, Hell no... by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      Thanks, that was very informative!

      --
      -Styopa
  7. People's Lives Are Too Noisy by BrendaEM · · Score: 1

    No, I am sorry, there has to be rational and reasonable noise limit.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
  8. They have been doing this up and down the coast by TheHawke · · Score: 1

    In the Pre-Harvey days, you could hear the thump down here by Rockport. After the hurricane, we have yet to hear them again. I guess they quit doing it so that any weakened structures don't fall in or windows go ahead and fail. I don't hear the pops or thumps anyplace else, including Mustang Island.

    --
    First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
  9. I for one welcome the research by dcooper_db9 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    After 911 the Air Force sent jets into DC. Then the Feds implemented no-fly zones around the city. Every time a plane came into the Airpark from the wrong direction they sent jets to intercept. The sonic booms they produced weren't just loud, they caused drywall and roofing tiles to crack.

    --
    I do not block ads. I do block third party scripts.
    1. Re:I for one welcome the research by dcooper_db9 · · Score: 1

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      I do not block ads. I do block third party scripts.
  10. Re: It's Texas. by Darinbob · · Score: 2

    No, he said "cow" shit.

  11. Re: It's Texas, cow and pig shit capital of Earth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    He meant the governor was lazy and uses a wheelchair to appear "FDR-ish" in photo-ops, bullets are flying everywhere both places of course, and it's COW AND PIG SHIT people are constantly stepping in, much less urbane.

    Ahh, Texas. The last bastion of pretend cowboys complaining about California like jealous tumbleweed-chasing leatherfags in 10 gallon hats. Give em back to Mexico.

  12. Re: It's Texas. by Crash+Dummy+Redux · · Score: 1

    You get plenty of that at the Grand National Rodeo at the Cow Palace in Daly City (outside of San Francisco).

  13. Yes we know by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    "NASA is Showering One City With Sonic Booms "

    Havana? I hate to break it to you, but you're doing it wrong. Friendly fire.

  14. Dive Maneuver? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

    the research jet is performing a dive maneuver

    I sure hope that they don't expect planes to go across the continent doing a dive maneuver. Might be tricky getting over the Rockies, especially heading west.

    1. Re:Dive Maneuver? by crow · · Score: 1

      The boom is only when crossing the sound barrier. Once they do that, they can continue to go fast without diving.

    2. Re:Dive Maneuver? by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Where I come from, the mountains are the same height flying over them either direction!

      Canada is so silly!

      Is this somehow related to why your upper jaw moves when you talk, instead of your lower jaw?

    3. Re:Dive Maneuver? by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      It doesn't.

      If that is what it was for, it would an airline doing it.

      NASA is doing it, which means it is the US Air Force that wants it, which means it has nothing to do with cross-continent flight.

      They don't mind if you hear something something after they already released the bomb and turned around to fly away.

    4. Re:Dive Maneuver? by TheCastro1689 · · Score: 1

      NASA is working on making a shape that mimics the flight maneuver. So the idea is if they design the plane correctly the sonic boom should have less of the crack crack sound and more of a curve to the booms making the sounds less obtrusive. NOVA had a documentary about the Concorde recently and this was covered in the end of it. Boeing is working on it too.

  15. Sonic Booms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Galveston Resident here, and I'm part of the test as I'm reporting on the noise levels. The sound is still audible, but not anything like the booms normally sound.
    I've heard several already and I'd liken the sound to a demo blast going off many miles away. A low rumble, or thump (several actually), not quite thunder.

  16. Just make them sound similar to school shootings by ffkom · · Score: 1

    ... then people won't be too upset about them.

  17. Re: It's Texas. by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    No, he said "cow" shit.

    And in Texas, all those cows have 'homes."

  18. They Did This In Oklahoma 50 Years Ago by careysub · · Score: 1

    Well, the FAA, not NASA. It was called Operation Bongo II. Is this Operation Bongo III?

    --
    Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    1. Re:They Did This In Oklahoma 50 Years Ago by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 2

      No. Matthew McConaughey getting arrested in Austin was Operation Bongo 3. This is called Bongo Fury.

  19. Way to tip your hand, NASA by RogueWarrior65 · · Score: 1

    Jeez, you don't TELL people that's what you're doing until you've finished doing it and asked them if they noticed anything. Now every luddite in the area will bitch.

    1. Re:Way to tip your hand, NASA by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Aliens. Definitely aliens.

    2. Re:Way to tip your hand, NASA by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Jeez, you don't TELL people that's what you're doing until you've finished doing it and asked them if they noticed anything. Now every luddite in the area will bitch.

      Galveston TX is a narrow island where most of the giant cruise ships dock. It is almost fully covered with structures. They have amusement parks instead of neighborhood parks, including ones on the beach that jut out into the ocean.

      If they ever had Luddites, they moved to West Texas decades ago.

      If you don't know what the place is, look at a picture for a laugh.

  20. Re: It's Texas. by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    San Francisco people mostly stab each other. If you want shootings you should go to Berkeley.

  21. Re:What kind of strange land is that? by kenai_alpenglow · · Score: 1

    I believe volcanoes and earthquake only produce sub-sonic waves. Not sure about the pyroclastic (sp) flows...

  22. Re: It's Texas. by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    How do you know?

    --
    Table-ized A.I.