The Clever Plan To Capture The Quiet Supersonic Flight Jet

QueSST.

Commercial flights are boring, there just isn’t much about sitting in a seat for hours at a time that is enjoyable. So engineers have worked hard to reduce that time using supersonic flight being the choice option to speed things up. However, supersonic flight has its downsides mainly the restrictions flight over land due to the noise it generates but things are about to change.

NASA along with Lockheed-Martin is currently developing a new kind of jet that reduces noise from a sonic boom produced during those high speeds. Formally known as the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) program this new jet aims to cut travel time in half while eliminating harmful noise. The last thing anyone needs is their windows shattered or a ruptured eardrum from a passing plane.

But the program needs to be studied in depth to track those particular soundwaves to ensure that they are acceptable. NASA has a means of studying soundwaves called schlieren imaging, which converts sound waves into imagery. This particular research program known as Background Oriented Schlieren using Celestial Objects (BOSCO) typically captures these images using the sun in the background and a traveling object in the foreground.

The QueSST jet is still currently in development but you can get a glimpse of the BOSCO process in this clip.