美宇航局正在研发新一代超音速飞机

Nasa might be famous for sending rockets up to space quickly. But it could be making your next holiday come more quickly, too.

 

美国宇航局也许因为飞速把火箭送入太空而闻名，但它也有可能为你下个假期所乘的航班提速。

 

The space agency is working on a new plane, dubbed¹ Concorde 2 by some people, that could solve the problems of super-sonic flight and vastly increase the speed of journeys abroad.

 

If successful, the plane would be able to fly between New York and London in just three hours. And it would halve² the time spent flying other journeys, since it could be used more broadly.

 

Until now, the problem with such planes has been the sonic boom, made famous by the original Concorde. That happens when a plane reaches supersonic speeds.

 

It is a thunderous noise that upsets people on the ground – disturbing livestock³ and even causing physical problems to materials and houses underneath⁴. It was irritation⁵ with that effect that led Congress to ban such planes from being used over US land, a decision that in turn was partly responsible for Concorde failing to be commercially viable⁶ and getting mothballed.

 

The space agency has successfully tried out the technology in wind tunnels, and now believes that it could be put to commercial use. It now wants to test that out by having commercial companies build a version of the plane that could be put to use.

 

That plane will fly as high as 55,000 feet – far higher than normal planes – and make a sound of only 60 decibels⁷. That's far less than the 90 decibels thrown out by Concorde, and is roughly in line with a car on the motorway⁸ or a busy restaurant.

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