NASA investigates supersonic flight

The Concorde may have been grounded years ago, but the age of supersonic flight is far from over. NASA gets set for commercial supersonic flight. The aerospace organisation is investing in the development of technology that can make supersonic aviation a reality for the masses.

NASA is planning research together with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and the University of California. The studies will investigate how to make supersonic travel quieter and greener and how to reduce the noise supersonic aircraft make. In some place they are prohibited from flying over land due to the noise pollution they create. The plans for supersonic flights are serious: a number of companies have announced plans to launch commercial supersonic flights in the near future.
 
One of them is engineering firm Spike Aerospace that has unveiled plans to develop Spike S-512, a 12-18 seater commercial supersonic jet that would reach speeds of Mach 1.6 (1,100mph). In this plane, passengers can fly from Europe to New York in three hours.

The new supersonic planes will have no windows in the fuselage; this way weight is reduced. Instead screens will curve around the cabin’s interior and can be used to display films or footage from outside captured via external cameras. Spike Aerospace says its supersonic aircraft could be operational as early as 2018.

Further reading on telegraph.co.uk