Auckland to Melbourne in one hour? NASA exploring supersonic travel

By 1news.co.nz and is republished with permission

NASA has set forth its “high-speed strategy” to discover if supersonic commercial aircraft can one day make passenger air travel four times as fast.

The space agency’s Glenn Research Center recently shared research findings into the business possibilities of high-speed passenger aircraft that could theoretically travel between Mach 2 and Mach 4, or 2,470km/h and 4,900km/h at sea level.

Such proposed aircraft would greatly outpace current large commercial carriers, which generally cruise at 966km/h or about 80% the speed of sound.

The studies concluded that potential passenger markets exist in about 50 established flight routes connecting cities separated by oceans.

As many nations have banned supersonic travel across land, the studies were confined to transoceanic travel, including routes crossing the Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans.

Project manager for NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology Project Lori Ozoroski said the research follows similar studies conducted over a decade ago involving speeds of Mach 1.6 to 1.8 (1976km/h to 2222km/h).

“These new studies will both refresh those looks at technology roadmaps and identify additional research needs for a broader high-speed range,” she said.

The earlier studies lead to the agency’s Quesst mission, which developed the X-59 “quiet supersonic” aircraft and aims to challenge overland supersonic flight rules by mitigating sonic booms.

NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program (AAVP) has now issued 12-month contracts to Boeing and Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems who, alongside partners, will “develop concept designs and technology roadmaps” to “explore air travel possibilities, outline risks and challenges, and identify needed technologies to make Mach 2-plus travel a reality”.

Manager of NASA’s Hypersonic Technology Project Mary Jo Long-Davis said the concepts and roadmaps from the companies, once finished, are “really important to have”.

“We are also collectively conscious of the need to account for safety, efficiency, economic, and societal considerations. It’s important to innovate responsibly so we return benefits to travellers and do no harm to the environment,” she said.

In July, Lockheed Martin completed the build of the X-59 aircraft, with ground tests and an initial test flight set to take off later this year.