Supersonic air travel is finally coming back

have you flown recently between delayed flights cramped seating baggage fees and the depressing lack of snacks airplanes have lost their mid-century glamour but what if you could spend a lot less time on a plane you might not remember but there was a plane called the Concorde that flew fast like really fast it had a cruising speed of 1354 miles per hour which is twice the speed of sound also known as Mach 2 a flight from New York to London which typically takes seven hours would only take three and a half hours going supersonic on the Concorde sadly the Concorde is long gone its final flight touched down in 2003 and since then the concorde sonic boom has mostly faded from memory that's all about to change a half a dozen startups are gambling on the return of supersonic air travel a new aviation laws could help speed that comeback there are questions of course will it be affordable or only for the super-rich what about the environment and why does anyone need to go that fast but there's no question that supersonic air travel is cruising back into popularity so a little bit of history first SuperSonics were all the rage in the 1960s when testing first began for commercial flights but the planes struggled with high cost and pollution concerns ultimately only one plane saw a long-term commercial success a collaboration between British and French companies called the Concorde the Conchords maiden voyage in 1976 kicked off a new era of luxury air travel tickets could cost up to $12,000 round-trip which included gourmet meals and a chance to rub elbows with politicians and celebrities but the biggest selling point was speed with twice daily service from London to New York it wasn't uncommon for business people to take day trips and return home before the bars and pubs closed the Concorde ultimately went out of business for a couple reasons in July of 2000 a Concorde jet operated by Air France blew up shortly after takeoff killing 113 in just a year later the September 11th attacks caused a major setback for the aviation industry the Concorde never recovered but almost 15 years later in 2013 NASA began funding a few research projects aimed at reviving super Sonics the funding was modest only about 2.3 million dollars but the project's all tackled a different technical challenge facing supersonic travel for example while plenty of people want to fly faster than sound no one wants those planes flying over their homes in fact Congress passed a law in 1973 banning supersonic flights from US soil that's because supersonic aircraft create a trail of deafening sound called a boom carpet as the plane's nose pushes into the air it flings aside air molecules and waves of pressure like a boat creating awake when those waves hit the landscape they create a loud booming noise that could sometimes damage property NASA wants to figure out how to muffle the sonic boom it's split initial tests between Texas and Florida since air behaves differently at different temperatures and different humidities and it awarded a two hundred and forty seven point five million dollar contract to Lockheed Martin to develop a quieter supersonic plane that research may find a foothold soon because right now the FAA is considering lifting at 1973 ban on civil supersonic flight President Trump is enthusiastic and the aviation industry can't wait supersonic air travel it seems is coming back into vogue Samuel Hammond is a research fellow at a libertarian think-tank that specializes in aviation theory a couple of years ago he and a colleague published a paper called make America boom again yeah I know anyway he thinks supersonic air travel could create new global possibilities far beyond more simple business travel how cool you have a very specific NBA you know the team's played a few game and LA was playing the game same day the way Hammond sees it the whole industry needs to be rethought which also I think more important is how doing a real patient in aviation innovation will inspire people to recognize that like the status quo is not a given the Shillito hanging through and you know big technological breakthroughs but all that explains how super Sonics are coming back the reason why is less scientific chiefly it's because very rich people want faster private jets one company is Arian a start-up designing supersonic business jets for General Electric Lockheed Martin the winner of that huge NASA contract is helping design and produce Aryans as2 plane the startup is targeting 2023 for its first flight followed by a commercial debut in 2025 another major player is boom supersonic a startup based in Colorado that's building a fleet of supersonic jets for Virgin Airlines Blake shoal chief executive officer and founder of boom envisions a new era of connectedness for anyone who could afford it my kids have a grandpa who lives in Hong Kong and it's simply too far away for the decision very often it turns into a six or seven hour overnight flight and all of a sudden they can actually come close boom claims it's aircraft can travel at a speed of mach 2.2 or 1451 miles per hour boom hopes to have a fleet of jets ready for passengers by 2020 and the average ticket will cost $5,000 but not everyone is convinced supersonic air travel is worth bringing back the Concorde was a big polluter burning two tons of fuel just to taxi and four times as much fuel per passenger as a boeing 747 jumbo jet it's unclear whether this new wave of planes will be any better boom Aryan and others claimed fuel efficiency will improve but environmentalists are still alarmed by the resurgence in popularity Carl Pope is the former executive director of the Sierra Club that buries the square that four times with any resistance and then when you hit the sonic boom it gets worse an aviation is going to be pull out of there and limiting fuel but we have to be one of the outcomes of the climate right Carl said he's worried that investors are so focused on reviving supersonic jets they won't stop to ask why they're doing it and this is merely the latest oh I have a take into account how the echos for all the technical improvements these new supersonic planes are on track to be every bit as luxurious as the Concorde so if you regularly fly first-class you could have some new faster options in the future but if you're stuck in coach with 80 percent of air travelers you'll probably be glad just to get some pretzels [Music] [Music]

Channel: Verge Science

Views: 2,240,456

Keywords: supersonic, air travel, supersonic flight, sonic boom, aircraft, travel, super sonic, concorde sonic boom, oasis supersonic, aviation, concorde, flight, airplane, supersonic jet, jet, boom, x-plane, hypersonic, boom supersonic, boeing, planes, nasa, new jet, airport, concord, speed of sound, airplanes, science, facts, science experiments, amazing, experiment, physics, universe, education, space, spacex, elon musk, verge science, the verge, verge, vox

Id: h8XrEzykeJQ

Length: 7min 40sec (460 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 13 2018