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.

  • @AnAngryAlpaca@feddit.de
    2•9 months ago

    Still, someone has to finance it. In the worst case you have a high speed rail network with high operationg costs that nobody uses, but taxpayers still need to maintain.

    • @NattyNatty2x4@beehaw.org
      7•9 months ago

      I swear if firefighting wasn’t currently publicly funded, you’d argue against making it publicly funded because it might not be profitable

    • @max@feddit.nl
      5•9 months ago

      If it’s there (and not terrible), people will use it. Will it break even on the costs? Maybe. Maybe not. Still worth it, however.