NASA administrator, Charles Bolden said: “NASA is working hard to make flight greener, safer and quieter – all while developing aircraft that travel faster, and building an aviation system that operates more efficiently.”
After conducting feasibility studies and working to better understand acceptable sound levels across the country, NASA's Commercial Supersonic Technology Project asked industry teams to submit design concepts for a piloted test aircraft that can fly at supersonic speeds, creating a supersonic "heartbeat" -- a soft thump rather than the disruptive boom currently associated with supersonic flight.
Lockheed Martin will receive about $20million over 17 months for preliminary design work on the quiet supersonic technology (QueSST).
The company will develop baseline aircraft requirements and a preliminary aircraft design and provide supporting documentation for concept formulation and planning. This documentation will be used to prepare for the detailed design, building and testing of the QueSST jet.
In addition to design and building, this low boom flight demonstration (LBFD) phase of the project also will include validation of community response to the quieter supersonic design.
The New Aviation Horizons X-planes will typically be about half-scale of a production aircraft and likely are to be piloted rather than autonomous. Design-and-build is expected to take several years with flight campaigns starting around 2020, depending on funding.
