The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works X-59 QueSST (Quiet Supersonic Technology) aircraft has the potential to revolutionize the future of air travel through the elimination of sonic booms.

   Supersonic aircraft are currently banned by the Federal Aviation Administration due to the sound of sonic booms, which can be up to 218 decibels. For comparison, fireworks can range between 150 to 175 decibels. 

   “Traditional airplanes that fly supersonically such as the concord or military jets develop a very loud sonic boom as they fly over the ground, it’s very disturbing to people on the ground and that’s a big impediment to being able to just fly commercially all the time supersonically,” Jay Brandon, a Low Boom Flight Demonstrator Chief Engineer for the X-59 said, according to NASA.

   The X-59 QueSST is almost 100 feet long and has an incredibly long nose, which prevents shockwaves from coming together and rather spreads them across the craft, which creates a sonic “thump” that is perceived around 75 decibels.

   “The X-59 will be propelled by a single high thrust engine located on the top of the aircraft so that any shock waves coming off of it are directed away from the ground,” Jim Less, an X-59 test pilot said, according to NASA.

   Since the nose is super skinny and is a third of the size of the entire plane, there are only windows on the sides rather than the front. To combat this issue, NASA is using their eXternal Vision System, which uses sensors, computers, and displays to act as a front window inside of the cockpit.

   “We’ve recently developed the tools to be able to predict how the sonic boom will be produced on the airplane and to be able to trace that to features on the airplane,” Brandon said. 

   Lockheed Martin and NASA aim to conduct a series of flights in the future to test whether this technology is safe to conduct use in United States airspace.