2-860-758 - Heritage Space/Heritage Images

Updated Supersonic, USA, 2007. Aircraft design concept from NASA research partner Lockheed Martin, a good example of how simulations and wind tunnel tests, conducted over time, generate data that tell researchers how to improve a design to achieve goals. The goals for a future supersonic aircraft are to produce a much lower-level sonic boom and to reduce emissions. The ultimate goal is to achieve a low enough boom that a current ruling prohibiting supersonic flight over land might be lifted.