Mastodawn

deconstruct Aug 26, 2023

NASA moves a step closer to supersonic passenger flights

NASA moves a step closer to supersonic passenger flights - lemm.ee

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.

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𞋴𝛂𝛋𝛆 Aug 26, 2023

I like the technological idea, but not the idea of catering to the super rich by giving them convenience at the cost of increasing their carbon footprint by another order or magnitude. This is tax money funding toys for the parasitic criminal billionaires.

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Pixel of Life

This is tax money funding toys for the parasitic criminal billionaires.

What an idiotic and short-sighted take. Research on supersonic aerodynamics is useful for far more than just toys for billionaires. Military applications, rocketry and astrophysics, for example. And even regular commercial aviation, because supersonic shockwaves are a major source of drag even at the speeds airliners fly at. Airlines would kill to have a fleet of planes that burns a few percent less fuel.