Not content to simply reach for the stars, NASA announced on Monday that it was backing the development of a new fleet of supersonic passenger planes that it claims will be less dangerous, more environmentally friendly, and less expensive than previous versions of such jets.
During an event at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced that the US space agency had awarded a contract to a Lockheed Martin-led team developing a fleet of “low-boom” demonstration aircraft as part of a new aviation initiative introduced in NASA’s Fiscal 2017 budget.
“NASA is working hard to make flight greener, safer, and quieter – all while developing aircraft that travel faster, and building an aviation system that operates more efficiently,” Bolden said at the event, noting that work on a preliminary design for Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) would commence at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
“It’s been almost 70 years since Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 as part of our predecessor agency’s high speed research,” he added. “Now we’re continuing that supersonic X-plane legacy with this preliminary design award for a quieter supersonic jet with an aim toward passenger flight.”
QueSST design seeks to eliminate the sonic boom
Work on the QueSST, which will be conducted under a task order against the Basic and Applied Aerospace Research and Technology contract at Langley, follows feasibility studies and research into what people all over the country deemed to be “acceptable” sound levels, NASA said.
Members of the agency’s Commercial Supersonic Technology Project then called on companies to submit design concepts for piloted test aircraft that could reach Mach 1 while emitting what is known as a supersonic “heartbeat” – soft thump instead of the loud boom typically linked to this type of aircraft. Lockheed Martin’s design was selected, and the company will receive nearly $20 million over the next 17 months to work on their preliminary QueSST designs.
The company’s team will also include subcontractors from GE Aviation of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Tri Models Inc. of Huntington Beach, California. Together, the three firms will work together to develop baseline aircraft requirements and a preliminary aircraft design with specifications. They will also be asked to provide documentation supporting their concept formulation and planning, which would be used to prepare for the designing, building and testing of the actual jet.
Once build, the prototype will then have to complete analytical and wind tunnel validation, said NASA. Future phases of the project will also call for public evaluation of the quieter supersonic jet design, they added. The work is part of the agency’s 10-year New Aviation Horizons project to reduce fuel consumption, noise and emissions through improved aircraft design.
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Image credit: Lockheed Martin
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