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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.

10 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. 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 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.

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  2. 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)

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    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.

  3. 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 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.

  4. 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.

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  5. Re: It's Texas. by Darinbob · · Score: 2

    No, he said "cow" shit.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.