FROM BOOM-BOOM TO THUMP-THUMP. If commercial airplanes were allowed to fly at supersonic speeds, it could dramatically reduce the time it takes to fly from one place to another. Unwilling to give up this possible future, engineers are taking on the task to make a quieter supersonic jet.
In 2016, NASA awarded Lockheed Martin $20 million to work on a quieter supersonic jet. The aircraft they created, now called the X-59, is able to be super quiet and also supersonic thanks to its design — the shape of the X-59's body affects the shape of the shockwaves. This transforms what would normally sound like two sonic booms into a pair of "thumps" — at least, that's how it would work in theory. In April, NASA gave Lockheed Martin $247.5 million to actually build the X-59, but it isn't expected to deliver the craft until the end of 2021.