In a joint ceremony with Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, on Friday, Nasa revealed the X-59, an experimental aircraft that is expected to fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound – or 925mph (1,488 km/h).

The aircraft, which stands at 99.7ft (30.4 metres) long and 29.5ft wide, has a thin, tapered nose that comprises nearly a third of the aircraft’s full length – a feature designed to disperse shock waves that would typically surround supersonic aircraft and result in sonic booms.

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[–] Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Nasa is always researching supersonic/hypersonic travel, that's what a space agency does.

It would be hard to list ALL of the ways that research benefits you.

[–] awwwyissss@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago

Yeah but it doesn't usually research how to make commercials transportation way less fuel efficient.

"The New York Times looked at the same comparison in the late 1970s when rising fuel prices were causing major difficulties for Concorde. It concluded that Concorde used four times the amount of fuel of the 747, based on a New York to Paris flight. These comparisons are even worse when looking on a per passenger basis – Concorde, of course, only took 100 passengers, compared to well over 400 on the 747-400." source

Planes are already a bad source of pollution, this makes it 8 times worse. Awful.