A few months later A private jet has broken down the sound wallBoom Supersonic and NASA have released a photo of one of the historic test flights of the aircraft via Mojave Desert.
Images released Monday show the XB-1 aircraft during its second supersonic flight on February 10th, which Boom Supersonic said to be “the first civilian supersonic jet made in America.”
“The image will be invisible,” Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, said in a news release.
NASA/BOOM Ultrasonic Distribution Material
Chief test pilot Tristan “Geppett” Brandenburg had to make sure the XB-1 was in the right place and in the right place so that the NASA team could take photos while flying when it was over the sun. The crew used the telescope with a special filter that could detect air distortions like shock waves and capture images.
The photo was taken during the 13th test flight of the XB-1, but according to the company, it was the second time it flew at Supersonic Speed, this time reaching Mach 1.18 (772 mph).
Shoal said the XB-1 didn’t create an audible sonic boom that occurs when the aircraft flies faster than the speed of sound. Captured data suggests that at certain speeds and atmospheric conditions, the sonic boom will refract into the atmosphere and not reach the ground. The discovery could lead the way to supersonic commercial flights without the sonic boom, the company said in a news release.
NASA visually captured supersonic shock waves in 2019 after 10 years of research. The technology was partially developed to help space agencies test their own supersonic aircraft X-59.
“Knowing where the air is really moving will tell you a lot about what your car is doing, how efficient it is and how it can be improved,” Ed Haaring, the lead researcher at Schleen Photography, said in a 2023 NASA news release.
