2 months ago
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic investigation craft sits successful its tally stall astatine Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works installation successful Palmdale, California, successful this image from Oct. 30, 2024.
NASA/Carla Thomas
Why don’t we person supersonic craft immoderate more? Although commercialized supersonic aerial recreation kicked disconnected successful nan 1960s pinch nan presence of nan Concorde, since that pitchy was retired successful 2003, location are nary supersonic jets successful communal civilian usage immoderate more. Part of that is because nan Concorde was costly and difficult to maintain, and nan summation successful velocity wasn’t worthy nan immense bump successful money and effort it took to support it flying. But different portion of it is thing that seems to beryllium endemic to faster-than-sound travel: nan sonic boom.
When an entity accelerates to faster than nan velocity of sound, it creates shockwaves that origin a sonic boom. This is noisy capable to aftermath group sleeping beneath an aircraft’s formation path, and tin moreover harm buildings aliases different structures connected nan ground. So, understandably, supersonic flights are forbidden crossed nan U.S.
But NASA wants to show that faster-than-sound recreation is imaginable without nan annoyance of nan boom, which is wherever its X-59 experimental aircraft comes in. The X-59, built by Lockheed Martin, is designed to create a “thump” alternatively than a roar erstwhile walking past nan sound barrier, pinch nan purpose to make it little annoying to those group beneath.
The craft precocious fired up its motor for nan first time, pinch tests checking that everything operates correctly erstwhile nan motor is moving astatine little speeds earlier nan motor is tally up to its precocious speeds.
“The first shape of nan motor tests was really a warm-up to make judge that everything looked bully anterior to moving nan engine,” said Jay Brandon, NASA’s X-59 main engineer. “Then we moved to nan existent first motor start. That took nan motor retired of nan preservation mode that it had been successful since installation connected nan aircraft. It was nan first cheque to spot that it was operating decently and that each nan systems it impacted – hydraulics, electrical system, biology power systems, etc. – seemed to beryllium working.”
Though nan X-59 is simply a investigation project, not an effort to build a commercialized aircraft, NASA’s purpose is to create quiet supersonic technologies that could yet beryllium adopted by commercialized companies. The Quesst ngo involves not only building nan X-59 aircraft,but besides collecting information connected really nan sound is perceived by group connected nan ground, pinch nan purpose of getting nan prohibition connected supersonic formation lifted.
For now, nan craft will stay connected nan crushed arsenic it goes done much testing earlier it takes to nan aerial for its first formation test. “The occurrence of these runs will beryllium nan commencement of nan culmination of nan past 8 years of my career,” said Paul Dees, NASA’s lawman propulsion lead for nan X-59. “This isn’t nan extremity of nan excitement, but a mini steppingstone to nan beginning. It’s for illustration nan first statement of a symphony, wherever years of teamwork down nan scenes are now being put to nan trial to beryllium our efforts person been effective, and nan notes will proceed to play a harmonious opus to flight.”
Georgina has been nan abstraction writer astatine Digital Trends abstraction writer for six years, covering quality abstraction exploration, planetary…
NASA cracks unfastened its first sample from an asteroid, foiling 2 sticky screws
NASA returned its first sample of an asteroid to Earth past year, landing a sample collected from asteroid Bennu successful nan Utah godforsaken successful September. Researchers were capable to extract 70 grams of worldly from nan canister that had been carried backmost to Earth by nan OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, making this nan largest asteroid sample ever brought to Earth. The scientists progressive knew location was much worldly wrong nan mechanism, but getting astatine it proved difficult -- until now, arsenic NASA has announced it has now managed to unfastened up nan troublesome mechanism.
You mightiness deliberation it would beryllium an easy occupation to unscrew a canister and dump retired nan worldly inside, but extraction was a lengthy and method process. That's because nan attraction was connected preserving arsenic overmuch of nan precious sample arsenic possible, trying not to fto immoderate of nan particles get lost. The rumor was pinch 2 of nan 25 fasteners that held nan sample wrong nan postulation mechanism. The system is kept wrong a mitt container to forestall immoderate loss, and location were only definite devices disposable that worked pinch nan mitt box. So erstwhile nan fasteners wouldn't unfastened pinch nan devices they had, nan squad couldn't conscionable spell astatine them pinch immoderate different tool.
Read more
NASA shows disconnected its experimental, quiet supersonic aircraft, nan X-59
NASA has shown disconnected its caller quiet supersonic aircraft, nan X-59. Created on pinch Lockheed Martin, nan craft is designed to trim nan sonic roar created by walking faster than nan velocity of sound to what nan agency calls a "sonic thump." Supersonic flights complete onshore are presently forbidden owed to nan sound disturbance they cause, and nan X-59 is an experimental craft aimed astatine reducing this sound to thing much tolerable to those connected nan ground.
At an arena today, Friday January 12, NASA debuted nan craft up of testing. Its first formation is scheduled for later this year. In a statement, NASA said that it intends to usage this one-of-a-kind airplane to stitchery information and pave nan measurement for early commercialized supersonic aircraft.
Read more
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft sends backmost its first image of a prima field
NASA has shared nan first images taken by its Psyche mission, which launched successful October to study a unusual metallic asteroid located successful nan main loop betwixt Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft, which is still connected its agelong journey, is expected to make its presence astatine nan asteroid successful 2029 and is presently betwixt nan orbits of Earth and Mars. But it is already testing retired its instruments by taking a trial image utilizing its 2 cameras and sending it backmost to Earth, successful a process called first light.
The image captured by Psyche's cameras shows a section of stars successful nan constellation Pisces. It is simply a mosaic made from nan full of 68 images taken by nan 2 cameras, pinch its first camera Imager A taking images for nan near broadside and its 2nd camera imager B taking images for nan correct side.
Read more
English (US) · 
Indonesian (ID) ·