Reports suggest that in one of America’s biggest pioneers in aviation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) is taking tentative steps towards a second generation of supersonic airliners, The Telegraph reports.
According to Bloomberg, NASA may begin work on a fresh supersonic prototype model as early as next month, and is likely to collaborate with manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Dynamics – as well as relevant industry innovators like Aerion and Boom Technology – to bring theory into reality.
Central to the blueprint will be a plane with a modified shape – subtler, sleeker, and therefore of less impact on the air around it. In theory, this would mean that it could break the sound barrier less brusquely, and at a lesser volume, than its celebrated predecessor.NASA researchers are quietly confident that tests on their model, conducted in a wind tunnel in June, demonstrate that such an aircraft could cut current standard flight times in half – meaning that the average seven hour duration of a hop between London and New York could be slashed to less than four hours. Read more at The Telegraph.
{Matzav.com}