In 1947, Captain Chuck Yeager became the first human to fly faster than the speed of sound. Piloting the X-1 supersonic plane, he left this goal in the dust of the craft he nicknamed "Glamorous Glennis" after his wife. Now, more than 70 years later, the U.S. Air Force has given the latest supersonic plane its experimental "X-plane" designation, NASA has revealed. The craft—now called the X-59 QueSST—is designed to shed the deafening sonic booms normally associated with super-fast airplanes. Aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin is currently building the X-59 with NASA. Before it gets off the ground, the space agency has been testing out another plane that can overcome the ear-splitting kabooms of supersonic travel. NASA's F/A-18 can produce a soft thud when it charges past the speed of sound. But this repurposed fighter jet is limited. It can create the quiet thump only in a small area. The X-59 will be shaped to avoid loud booms altogether, NASA reported. "The X-59 is a research aircraft flown by a single pilot," Peter Coen, project manager for the agency's Commercial Supersonic Technology Project, explained in a statement emailed to Newsweek. "It contains design features such as its long nose and carefully sculpted wing shape that will reduce the noise from future designs." "With the X-59 you're still going to have multiple shockwaves because of the wings on the aircraft that create lift and the volume of the plane. But the airplane's shape is carefully tailored such that those shockwaves do not combine," Ed Haering, a NASA aerospace engineer, said in an agency statement. "Instead of getting a loud boom-boom, you're going to get at least two quiet thump-thump sounds, if you even hear them at all," he added. NASA released a video (see below) of an F/A-18 demonstrating the classic two-punch sonic boom you'd expect from supersonic flight, before circling round to a quieter sonic thump. Skip to 0:43 for the boom, and 2:34 for the muffled thuds. In November 2018, residents in Galveston, Texas, will be lucky—or unlucky—enough to watch the F/A-18 plane zip through their skies, NASA reported. Sensors will measure sound levels in the island town and 500 volunteers will report back on their impressions of the noise—if they hear anything at all. After further testing and safety approval, pilots are set to fly the X-59 over certain communities from late 2022, the space agency stated. After researchers gather responses from locals, it will be up to regulators at home and abroad to decide on the rules for this new kind of supersonic travel. NASA associate administrator for aeronautics Jaiwon Shin is confident the experimental plane is a huge step forward for air travel. "I'm confident that the contributions the X-59 QueSST will make to our nation and the world will ensure its place among the greatest NASA X-planes ever flown," he said in a statement. Although it's not designed for commercial use, Coen hopes the research craft will lead the way in supersonic flight. "If successful… the X-59 QueSST will open the door a to future generation of quiet supersonic travel," he said. This article has been updated to include comment from Peter Coen.<doc-sep>Nasa has announced a series of new tests for its 1,100mph (1,770kph) supersonic aircraft tipped to be the follow-up to the legendary Concorde. The plane, dubbed the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST), aims to cut out the noise associated with supersonic travel. Nasa will fire off the aircraft's 'quiet' sonic booms over a small city in Texas this year in a bid to gauge public reaction to the dampened supersonic thuds. The agency said the first full test flights of the X-59, which could one day fly from London to New York in just three hours, are scheduled for 2022. Scroll down for video Nasa has announced a series of new tests for its 1,100mph (1,770kph) supersonic commercial airliner tipped to be the follow-up to the legendary Concorde. The plane (artist's impression) aims to cut out the noise associated with supersonic travel Dubbed 'son of Concorde' by aviation fans, the vehicle could lead to the first supersonic aircraft to carry commercial passengers since the iconic Anglo-French jet was decommissioned 15 years ago. Originally named the Low-Flight Flight Demonstrator by Nasa, the agency announced last week that the aircraft was to be called X-59 QueSST going forward. Before the aircraft takes to the skies, Nasa is investigating whether members of the public are put off by the noise produced by X-59 when it breaks the sound barrier. Tests scheduled for November will see an F-18 fighter jet conduct a dive manoeuvre off the shores of Galveston, Texas - an island city near Houston. The plane will dive from almost 50,000 feet (15,200 metres), briefly going supersonic and firing off the sound likely to come from X-59 aircraft. The noise, which Nasa calls a 'sonic thump', should sound more like a car door slamming as opposed to the booms produced by existing supersonic aircraft. The agency will measure the sounds using sensors on the ground while gathering public reaction through a series of surveys. Alexandra Loubeau, Nasa's team lead for sonic boom community response research at Langley, said: 'We'll never know exactly what everyone heard. 'We won't have a noise monitor on their shoulder inside their home. Nasa pilot Jim Less will fire off 'quiet' sonic booms over a small city in Texas this year in a bid to gauge public reaction to the dampened supersonic thuds. Pictured is Less with the F-18 fighter jet aboard which he will perform the research 'But we'd like to at least have an estimate of the range of noise levels that they actually heard.' X-59, which Nasa is developing with Lockheed Martin's aeronautics branch, is scheduled to make its first flight in 2022. Originally named the Low-Flight Flight Demonstrator by Nasa, the agency announced last week that the aircraft was to be called X-59 QueSST going forward. The US Air Force made the name change in-part as a hat tip American X-plane history, which began in 1947 with the world's first supersonic plane, the the Bell X-1. 'For everyone working on this important project, this is great news and we're thrilled with the designation,' Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator for Nasa's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, said in a statement last week. WHAT IS NASA'S 'SON OF CONCORDE' X-PLANE? Nasa is developing a 1,100mph (1,770kph) aircraft that has been dubbed the 'son of Concorde'. The vehicle is the first in a series of aircraft Nasa is developing with Lockheed Martin in a quest to build a commercially viable supersonic jet. It is designed to fly at Mach 1.4 (925 mph / 1,488 kph) at an altitude of 55,000 feet (10 miles). Dubbed the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST), the research craft aims to cut out the sonic booms associated with supersonic travel. Pictured is an artist's impression of the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator (LBFD) The aircraft is shaped to separate the shocks and expansions associated with supersonic flight to reduce the volume of the shaped signature, and was developed by Lockheed's Skunk Works over 20 years. The team is hoping to achieve a sonic boom 60 dBA lower than other supersonic aircraft, such as Concorde. Recent research has shown it is possible for a supersonic airplane to be shaped in such a way that the shock waves it forms when flying faster than the speed of sound can generate a sound at ground level so quiet it will hardly will be noticed by the public, if at all. Advertisement The X-59 project aims to cut out the noisy sonic booms that echoed above cities in the era of Concorde, while travelling at speeds of 1,100mph (Mach 1.4 / 1,700 km/h). The loud booms that rang out whenever a Concorde broke the sound barrier were often described as 'unsettling' by members of the public, which ultimately limited the aircraft to flights over the Atlantic when it began carrying passengers in 1976. X-59 is designed to stop shockwaves triggered by the movement of air particles when an aircraft breaks the sound barrier from merging - a phenomenon that gives off the telltale sonic boom of supersonic aircraft. Nasa hopes to reduce the sound of the sonic boom to a quiet thud, similar to the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance or a neighbour closing their door. Nasa is developing the aircraft with Lockheed Martin's aeronautics branch with test flights planned for 2022. The plane is dubbed the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator (artist's impression) 'With the X-59 you're still going to have multiple shockwaves because of the wings on the aircraft that create lift and the volume of the plane,' said Ed Haering, a Nasa aerospace engineer at Nasa's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. 'But the airplane's shape is carefully tailored such that those shockwaves do not combine. 'Instead of getting a loud boom-boom, you're going to get at least two quiet thump-thump sounds, if you even hear them at all.' Nasa's November tests will produce similar shockwaves using an F-18 fighter jet to conduct sharp manoeuvres in the air. HOW WILL NASA REDUCE THE SOUND OF SONIC BOOMS? In a conventional supersonic aircraft, shockwaves from the nose, cockpit, inlets, wings and other features come together as they move through the atmosphere into strong shocks emanating from the nose and tail. These are known as bow and tail shocks, respectively. As these shockwaves pass over the ground, air pressure rises sharply, declines, then rises rapidly again. It's this that produces the classic 'double-bang' sonic boom. In a conventional supersonic aircraft, shockwaves from the nose, cockpit, inlets, wings and other features come together as they move through the atmosphere into strong shocks emanating from the nose and tail Reshaping the aircraft to produce a longer, more slender shape is the best way to generate shockwaves of lower, more equal strength that do not form into such strong bow and tail shocks. Nasa and other organisations are working on creating shapes to reduce sonic booms. Stretching the nose to break the bow shock into a series of weaker shockwaves is particularly effective. This lowers and spreads that initial pressure peak and softens the first bang of the sonic boom. Advertisement The aircraft, pilot by Nasa researcher Jim Less, will dive from 49,000 feet (15,000m) and go briefly supersonic before levelling off at 30,000 feet (9,000m). Shockwaves produced by the manoeuvre will concentrate directly below the aircraft in the form of a very loud, focussed pair of sonic booms. A few miles from the dive points, the noise quickly trails off as they spread out and weaken. Flights conducted by Nasa in November will study the US public's reactions to 'quiet' supersonic noises above their homes. Pictured is an artist's impression of the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator (LBFD) 'The result in that area: a pair of quiet sonic booms – soft thumps, really – which people on the ground, including those Nasa researchers and resident volunteers, might barely notice, if they hear anything at all,' the agency wrote in a statement. QueSST is the latest addition to the X-series of experimental aircraft and rockets, used to test and evaluate new technologies and aerodynamic concepts. Their X designation indicates their research mission status within the US system of aircraft naming. This all dates back to Chuck Yeager's sound-barrier-breaking craft, the X-1, a rocket engine–powered aircraft, designed and built in 1945, that achieved a speed of nearly 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 kmh) in 1948. The team hopes to reduce the sound of the sonic boom to a quiet thud, similar to the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance or a neighbour closing their door. This graphic compares the F18 sonic boom to the sonic 'thump' that Nasa aims to achieve in the future Nasa's vision for the X-59 was approved In the latest proposed US budget released by the Office Of Management And Budget In Washington, DC, in February. The space agency was awarded $19.9 billion (£14.3bn) for the next year, $500 million (£360m) more than the previous year. It is not known what proportion of this has been allocated for the supersonic aircraft project. QueSST will be used as a test bed for technologies that could make their way into commercial planes. Nasa is hoping to see the first flight tests take place in 2022, with public reaction tests to the final aircraft scheduled for the following year.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — NASA's mission to revolutionize air travel has taken a significant step forward as the space agency starts building its X-59 QueSST supersonic jet. The X-59 airplane is dubbed by some as "the son of Concorde" and is being manufactured, on behalf of NASA, by security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin. NASA's X-59 isn't a prototype for a commercial airliner and can't carry passengers -- but its quiet, supersonic tech could be adopted by aircraft manufacturers in future designs. "The start of manufacturing on the project marks a great leap forward for the X-59 and the future of quiet supersonic commercial travel," said Peter Iosifidis, Low Boom Flight Demonstrator program manager Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in a statement. NASA awarded Lockheed Martin a $247.5 million contract to build the highly anticipated aircraft. Barely audible Creating a supersonic aircraft that doesn't produce sonic booms would be a game-changer for aviation. Before being taken out of service, Concorde's speed was restricted over certain land routes because of disruptive sound waves. If NASA's experimental project works, it should help make supersonic flight more economical. Related content Are windowless planes the future of travel? NASA completed tests in November 2018, using supersonic F/A-18 Hornet jets over Galveston, Texas, to mimic the sonic profile of the X-59 while a group of around 500 residents documented the noise levels. By performing dives at the speed of sound, the jets produced two types of sonic boom in order to truly determine the sound they produce on the ground. According to NASA, Galveston was chosen as the testing area as it's located near the Gulf of Mexico, allowing the fighter jets keep louder sonic booms out to sea, while hurling quieter sonic "thumps" into the city. Noise-reducing ability F/A-18 Hornets will simulate regular sonic booms in Texas as part of the testing process. NASA / Maria Werries The secret to the X-59's noise-reducing ability is its uniquely shaped structure, designed so that supersonic shockwaves don't build up into powerful sonic booms. "With the X-59 you're still going to have multiple shockwaves because of the wings on the aircraft that create lift and the volume of the plane," says Ed Haering, an aerospace engineer at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center. "But the airplane's shape is carefully tailored such that those shockwaves do not combine. "Instead of getting a loud boom-boom, you're going to get at least two quiet thump-thump sounds, if you even hear them at all. "This is why the F/A-18 is so important to us as a tool. While construction continues on the X-59, we can use that diving maneuver to generate quiet sonic thumps over a specific area." Related content What it was really like to fly on Concorde Concorde successor? Formerly known as "Low-Flight Flight Demonstrator," the project has been renamed X-59 QueSST. Courtesy NASA X-59 is designed to cruise at 55,000 feet at a speed of about 940 mph. It's scheduled for delivery by the end of 2021. Once the aircraft has finally been constructed and its noise credentials established, NASA says it'll carry out test flights over other US towns and gather intelligence from the ground. "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," says Iosifidis. The noise problem has dogged aeronautical innovators looking to create a follow-up to the Anglo-French Concorde project since the aircraft retired in 2003. Several attempts to revive supersonic air travel are ongoing. Japan Airlines invested $10 million into Boom Technologies , a Denver-based start-up that also hopes to revive supersonic air travel in the next decade.