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New Experimental Lockheed Supersonic Jet Starts Production (wtop.com)
Lockheed Martin's X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology aircraft is officially in "the manufacturing phase," bringing the company "one step closer to enabling supersonic travel for passengers around the world." The experimental jet was awarded a contract from NASA earlier this year as it is capable of flying at supersonic speeds without creating loud supersonic booms. Currently, commercial supersonic aircraft are banned from flying over land because of the noise and potential damage the booms may cause. WTOP reports: "The long, slender design of the aircraft is the key to achieving a low sonic boom," said Peter Iosifidis, Low Boom Flight Demonstrator program manager at Lockheed Martin. "As we enter into the manufacturing phase, the aircraft structure begins to take shape, bringing us one step closer to enabling supersonic travel for passengers around the world," he said.
Lockheed expects to conduct its first flight in 2021 and gather community response data on the acceptability of the "quiet sonic boom" the plane creates. NASA will use that information to establish an acceptable commercial supersonic noise standard to overturn current regulations banning supersonic travel over land. The X-59 will cruise at a speed of about 940 mph and an altitude of 55,000 feet. Lockheed says it will create a sound about as loud as a car door closing, instead of a deafening sonic boom.
Lockheed expects to conduct its first flight in 2021 and gather community response data on the acceptability of the "quiet sonic boom" the plane creates. NASA will use that information to establish an acceptable commercial supersonic noise standard to overturn current regulations banning supersonic travel over land. The X-59 will cruise at a speed of about 940 mph and an altitude of 55,000 feet. Lockheed says it will create a sound about as loud as a car door closing, instead of a deafening sonic boom.
Learn to from too, then wicked burn Lockheed Corporation, kid.
Furthering the bounds or aeronautics research is what the National Aeronautics and Space Administration does, and has been doing since it was the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, back in 1915.
Or didn't you ever wonder what the "A" in NASA stands for?
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
Hold on your tongue!
"A low sonic boom" is still a noise event that may exceed urban noise limits, and should be restricted to airports that have runways that end at the sea in an industrial/commercial zone, not near residential population.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Because they have the wind tunnels, supercomputers and software to model and supersonic flight airframe designs?
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
If the booms were supersonic, nobody would even complain.
Alas, the booms are indeed sonic.
I know you paid a quarter for that word, but my advice: Ask for change.
"The long and slender design..."
Probably means fewer passengers and a really crappy fuel economy per passenger compared with the wider and slower jets in service.
A dingo ate my sig...
I figured it had something to do with "budget-minded" A-holes in the anti-science anti-governance Obstructican Party?
well, damn near... Still not as fast as a .223, so it's stupid.
Nothing less than mach 2 will do. We should be doing mach 5 or 6, but, the primitive apes that we are, probably don't want to offend their gods.
Any fool with an elite engineering PhD could do this. Why is it news? Hell, my wife could do this while stirring a pot of something
Some history for you. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/7...
May not have been NASA, but it was a Government agency that paid for it.
The program used the Bell Aircraft-built XS-1 rocket engine powered aircraft, with Yeager serving as lead pilot for the Air Force and Hoover for the NACA.
What came of that knowledge I wonder?
The research techniques used for the X-1 program became the pattern for all subsequent X-craft projects, including the X-15 experimental aircraft for hypersonic flight research built by North American Aviation. NASA conducted the X-15 project with the Air Force and the Navy between 1959 and 1968, the plane setting unofficial worldâ(TM)s speed (4,520 miles per hour or Mach 6.7) and altitude (354,200 feet) records. Similar to the X-1 under the B-29, the X-15 was carried into the air under the wing of a B-52 and after release ignited its rocket engine to begin it supersonic flight. Twelve pilots from NASA, the Air Force, the Navy and North American made 199 flights in three X-15 aircraft.
Now, what I expect that will be learned from this specific plane is how to make it economical for public use.
Or, what everything the government does with big business never makes life better for the general population?
Do you really think it would cost less to do this type of research in house by the government itself? Seriously?
Anonymous comments are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate gutless journalism from the New York Time
This looks like a modern version of the OLD X planes. In other words, it is to be used for proving concepts. I still think they are out to correct the complaints about the old SST(Cost per flirght, noise)
Anonymous comments are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate gutless journalism from the New York Time
That's 1513 km/h (or 420 m/s) and 16.8 km.
According to NASA's mach speed calculator, that's Mach 1.42.
They are building just one of these.
With nothing less than civilization at stake, it's a wonder that these projects are being embraced by the organizations that understand implications of climate change.
The Concorde burnt 2 tonnes of fuel just taxiing the runways. 16L/100km per passenger in the air, or half the efficiency of the average car. I'm sure there will be relative improvements. But supersonic jets are a luxury few of us can afford monetarily, and none of us can afford in terms of emissions.
I still think they are out to correct the complaints about the old SST(Cost per flirght, noise)
If that existing shape is the only way to achieve [sub-optimal] quiet supersonic flight, they'll have to scale it up to rather large airframes or this'll remain a boutique tech for a small handful of impatient ultra-rich.
As an aside, seems to me 'quiet overland nach1+' is all well and good unless it means utterly-unviable designs capacity/economy-wise...
Just have a look how well supersonic flights sold when Concorde was still active...
Let's not forget it also gave us Steve Austin. The 6 Million dollar man.
Lol, and Tang. God, I hate that drink.
Anonymous comments are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate gutless journalism from the New York Time
Don't forget the Trillion Dollar Man, Musk who is leveraging Space-X on decades of NASA's experimental work.
The reason a sonic boom happens, is that when you're moving at the speed of sound, the fastest that a wave can propagate through air is the speed of sound.
This means that you rip through the air, and what's behind you, is a vacuum, that collapses. That's what the sonic boom is. There's no way to eliminate it.
Remember the vaporware that MS and other large companies were created back in the 1990's and early 2000's? This is just another example of it. I remember that 3 years ago, Lockheed has perfected a fusion generator. Lockheed lies, a lot, now.
Money? NASA? They run ancient setups and antequated code because that's all they can afford. They have no money and get less each year in real terms.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
A waverider should generate little sonic boom because of where the shockwave is placed. We also know how to build them and they should be capable of passenger loads comparable to - or better than - the high-end Airbusses.
I assume they're not the design used because they're a bugger to make stable and NASA had some accidents, but that would seem a better way to go.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
why is NASA subsidizing a commercial project... i guess they DO have to much money?!!!!
Did you actually think NASA builds everything they use entirely by themselves?
Have you somehow never heard of them contracting with a manufacturer?
Is this really going to happen? Or is it like all the commercial space flights which were supposed to start flying in 2015, then 2016, then 2017, ...?
I figured it had something to do with "budget-minded" A-holes in the anti-science anti-governance Obstructican Party?
When was the last time you saw a creationist filing suit against a reactor or lying down in front of an earthmover? The anti-science people who actually obstruct science are in the Obstructicrat Party.
Hey y'all. Check out the photos of the thing. It looks awesome, and has the realistic capacity of a private jet, and a small one at that! This plane may allow civilians to travel at 60% the speed of Concorde, but it will not be commercial at its current size. It will be a private jet. For reference, Concorde had room for 120 passengers and a flight crew of 6 or 7, including the navigator!
Hey, APK. You give ammo to the people who think that homosexuals are crazy. Stop doing that.
CAP: syndrome
35 million dollar man in 2018 dollars, unless his price tag increased along the lines of the defense department, in which case he's the $300 million dollar man.
gweihir KNOWS u IMPERSONATE me https://it.slashdot.org/commen... c6gunner proves it https://linux.slashdot.org/com... forgetting to SUBMIT BY AC & f'd up using his registered 'lusrname' instead (just because he tried to mock me both BEFORE & after I FAIRLY challenged him to show he's done better work - he had ZERO).
& NO WAY I'd "cry" like you to "ne'er-do-wells" on /. (TROLL /.ers, not all) OR post on hosts offtopic.
YOU HELPED ME https://science.slashdot.org/c... (& you quit trying to make me look bad trying to "tell lies" on hosts as "ME" IN YOUR IMPERSONATIONS of me e.g. https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... & regarding Intel speculative execution attack? Hosts DO PREVENT THEM)
APK
P.S.=> I KNOW that 2nd to last link above's KILLING YOU that YOU ACTUALLY HELPED ME getting me to see if hosts stop more than portsmash (& Meltdown + Spectre too) & "lo & behold" - hosts WORK on 'em - U LOSE (& U STOPPED TRYING IT in your impersonations of me) .... apk
burma shave?
why is NASA subsidizing a commercial project..
You don't have any clue what NASA does do you? Research is their primary mission, specifically including public/private research partnerships. This is how NASA's research activities benefit the US. NASA research eventually gets turned over to the private sector and we all benefit from it - the term for this is technology transfer. This is exactly the sort of "subsidy" you want because no private company could justify the risk for such an exotic and unproven technology.
Also you do realize NASA doesn't build rockets or aircraft themselves right? They hire contractors to build and operate them including lockheed. NASA isn't an intergalactic bus and freight service and shouldn't be. Furthermore this is an X plane. The X stands for experimental. This is a public/private research project which if it works it will result in jobs and grow our economy. Call it a subsidy if you want but technology research like this is among the best uses for tax dollars there are. The internet that you are using right at this moment is a great example of a US government (DARPA) research project that resulted in a gigantic ROI to the American people.
i guess they DO have to much money?!!!!
Every dollar we spend on NASA results in somewhere between a 7X-14X return on that investment to our economy. Are you seriously arguing we should reduce our investment on something that has that much benefit? Especially when NASA's budget accounts for 0.5% of the federal budget?
"A low sonic boom" is still a noise event that may exceed urban noise limits
I'll buy that argument when urban areas start actively banning Harley Davidson motorcycles and other more mundane sources of unnecessary noise pollution.
In any case if this aircraft does what they hope then it will be FAR quieter than any noise restrictions in most communities at around 75dB perceived.
I figured it had something to do with "budget-minded" A-holes in the anti-science anti-governance Obstructican Party?
When was the last time you saw a creationist filing suit against a reactor or lying down in front of an earthmover? The anti-science people who actually obstruct science are in the Obstructicrat Party.
They're both anti-science, just at different 'ends'.
One wants to fuck things up early, during education of the public. The other wants to fuck things up during development of infrastructure.
Anti-vaxxers seems to be fairly cross-platform politically for example:
* https://theconversation.com/anti-vaccination-beliefs-dont-follow-the-usual-political-polarization-81001
"The long and slender design..."
Probably means fewer passengers and a really crappy fuel economy per passenger compared with the wider and slower jets in service.
Some people are willing to burn money to save time.
What do you think was the demographics of those taking the Concorde?
Or didn't you ever wonder what the "A" in NASA stands for?
I thought it was "Administration".
I work in product development. To me, production implies sellable units. Lockheed is manufacturing a prototype. Big difference. Call it manufacturing, developing, fabricating, but don't call it production. This thing may never see true production.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
Will this be the same "... gather community response data ..." that they didn't offer pilots for the F-35 piece of shit that ran over schedule and over budget?
Does Lockheed Martin have fucking pictures of prominent politicians with goddam donkeys?
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
one day, we too, will have our beloved concord!
Now that you've solved this existential crisis of sonic booms using the amazing and wonderful powers of regulation, could you solve some of these other life-threatening problems?
Uneven distribution of punctuation marks in literature
Livestock that spend too long gazing in a particular direction
Avacados that overly resemble frightening characters on tv shows
Thanks, government helpers! You're the best!
that was kinda my point, i guess i forgot the tag :)
it seems like boing needed a hand out and it got routed through NASA for a commercial application of a project benefiting a corporation.
Well, to be fair, since Congress shut down NASA's work with Boeing on the blended wing body, no civilian aircraft manufacturer has taken the work further.
In other words, some research that is arguably essential just can't be done privately.
Now, I could see a case for LaRC doing the work independently and then providing it to everyone, but if I remember rightly from my time there, they're not allowed. They're only allowed to do joint ventures with private companies. That's all LaRC is, these days, a R&D unit for rich aviation companies.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)