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  • BBC Science Focus Magazine

    FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF SOUND

    Sep 08, 2021 4 minutes
    WORDS: ANDREW MAY

    NASA, perhaps best known for its spacecraft, also has pretty sizeable fleet of aircraft under its belt. It has a venerable tradition of X-planes, where ‘X’ stands for experimental. It started back in 1946 with the X-1, which became the first aircraft to travel faster than sound. Three-quarters of a century on, its new plane, the X-59, also aims to break the sound barrier – but this time it’s going to do it quietly.

    The speed of sound has always caused headaches for aircraft designers. The reason lies in the nature of sound itself. When anything from a handclap to a rocket disturbs the air, it causes pressure changes that spread out like a wave. The

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