NASA has announced ambitions to build a supersonic passenger airliner that can travel faster than the speed of sound. Here’s what we know.

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• NASA Is Working To Reduce Flight Time From London To New York To Just 90 minutes
• NASA studies conclude that prospective passenger markets exist

NASA Is Working To Reduce Flight Time From London To New York To Just 90 minutes 

NASA

The space agency announced this week that it has identified prospective passenger markets along around fifty established city-to-city routes. It is envisaged that one route will allow flights from New York City to London to be up to four times faster than they are now.

Boeing, Rolls-Royce, and GE Aerospace have been commissioned to develop non-proprietary designs for concept vehicles.

According to NASA, they recently evaluated the commercial case for supersonic passenger air travel onboard aircraft capable of travelling at speeds ranging from Mach 2 to Mach 4 (1,535–3,045 mph at sea level).

In comparison, today’s largest commercial jetliner cruises at around 600 mph, or roughly 80% of the speed of sound. With a cruising speed of Mach 2.02 (1,354 mph), Concorde was the first commercial aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound. It was flown by British Airways and Air France and was in operation from 1976 to 2003.

NASA studies conclude that prospective passenger markets exist

The NASA studies showed that prospective passenger markets exist; however, because the United States and other countries prohibit supersonic flight over land, the conclusions of the studies focused on transoceanic travel, particularly high-volume North Atlantic routes and those across the Pacific. 

With its X-59 silent supersonic aircraft, Nasa’s Quesst mission aims to deliver data to regulators that will assist in revising the overland supersonic flight rules. ‘We conducted similar concept studies at Mach 1.6–1.8 over a decade ago, and the ensuing roadmaps helped drive NASA research efforts subsequently, including those leading to the X-59,’ Lori Ozoroski, project manager for Nasa’s Commercial Supersonic Technology Project, said.

NASA

NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Programme (AAVP) has entered the next phase of high-speed transport research, which includes awarding two 12-month contracts to businesses to develop concept designs and technology roadmaps. 

The roadmaps will investigate the prospects for air travel, define the risks and challenges, and identify the technologies required to make Mach 2-plus travel a reality. 

The initial team is led by Boeing, with Exosonic, GE Aerospace, Georgia Tech Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory, Rolls-Royce North American Technologies, and others as partners. 

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Source: tit.edu.vn