NASA Says It Can Ease Jets’ Sonic Boom Effect
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
NASA says it’s found a way to soften the window-rattling impact of the sonic boom from supersonic jets: change the shape of the aircraft.
Proof of that long-held theory came in a series of test runs at Edwards Air Force Base near Palmdale.
Changes to the skin and nose of a Navy F-5E jet flattened out the sound it produced, dulling the sharp report of the sonic boom into a thud, according to NASA spokeswoman Kathy Barnstorff.
NASA hopes the $7-million experiment will foster technology that could enable supersonic commercial planes to fly over land without causing a nuisance and make military aircraft more stealthy.
