NASA moves a step closer to supersonic passenger flights | CNN
www.cnn.com
A new study by NASA’s Glenn Research Center has looked at the possibility of supersonic passenger jets. Its “high-speed strategy” is mooting commercial flights that travel at up to Mach 4 – over 3,000 miles per hour – starting with transoceanic routes.

In July, Lockheed Martin completed the build of NASA’s X-59 test aircraft, which is designed to turn sonic booms into mere thumps, in the hope of making overland supersonic flight a possibility. Ground tests and a first test flight are planned for later in the year. NASA aims to have enough data to hand over to US regulators in 2027.

  • LufyCZ@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    The fact that it’s not profitable overall doesn’t mean there can never be any profit from anything.

    • alcoholicorn [comrade/them, doe/deer]@hexbear.netEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Just because a river flows south doesn’t mean you couldn’t find an eddy in the currents that flows north for a few seconds.

      But the water still has nowhere to flow but south. If the cost was less than expected return, these companies would do this research internally. Even if for just one moment, one tiny aspect of the program did make a profit, it wouldn’t change the nature of the system.