NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Overcoming the 50-Year Ban History of the Ban on Commercial Supersonic Flight Over Land By Dr. Pankaj Dhussa

1. Overcoming the 50-Year Ban
History of the Ban on Commercial Supersonic Flight Over Land
Challenge
• Sonic booms are loud and startling sounds
• When an aircraft flies supersonic, the sonic
boom is “dragged” along the ground for the
entire duration that the plane is flying Mach 1 or
faster
• There is a 50-year-old ban by the FAA on flying
supersonic commercially over land in the U.S.
because of the unacceptability of loud booms
NASA’s Quesst Mission
The X-59 will fly over U.S. communities
Credit: Lockheed Martin
Expected Impacts
• NASA’s Quesst mission can demonstrate
technologies to overcome the challenges of
softening a loud sonic boom and provide data
necessary that could help change the rules of
commercial supersonic flights over land
• By making booms quieter and gathering public
feedback on the softer sounds, regulators can
revisit the ban on overland commercial
supersonic flight
• Solving this key puzzle piece to flying supersonic
over land could one day lead to the public flying
across the country in half the time
Collaborators
• Lockheed Martin Skunk Works – Building the X-59
• Crystal Instruments – Design and build hardware to
measure X-59 sonic thumps
• Harris Miller Miller and Hanson – Support the
planning and execution of the community tests
Solutions
Ø Low Boom Flight Demonstrator project
Design, build, and flight-test the X-59 to confirm that it can generate a
quiet sonic thump rather than a loud boom, and ensure it is safe to
fly in the National Airspace System
Ø Flight Demonstrations and Capabilities project
Operate and sustain test capabilities and facilities necessary to
support X-59 flight research and the Quesst mission, including chase
aircraft and research flights to characterize the X-59 acoustic
signature
Ø Commercial Supersonic Technology project
Conduct the science and research aspects of Quesst mission including
validation of the X-59 acoustic signature and conducting the
community test to gather actual public response to quiet sonic
thumps and provide data to U.S. and international regulators.
Results
• Success equals accumulating the necessary amount of
community data to inform regulators
• Sharing quiet supersonic technologies and design with industry
The X-59 experimental aircraft | Credit: NASA
The X-59 is the centerpiece of the Quesst mission
Credit: NASA
Next Steps
• Test fly the X-59 experimental aircraft and validate the
quiet supersonic design
• Gather public response by conducting community
overflights