NASA and Boom Supersonic just released an incredible photo capturing a shockwave emanating from the dark silhouette of the supersonic XB-1 aircraft while it traveled in front of the sun during a Feb. 10 test flight during which it broke the sound barrier three times.
“This image makes the invisible visible — the first American made civil supersonic jet breaking the sound barrier,” Blake Scholl, Boom Supersonic founder and CEO, said in a statement.
The photo was no accident. It required ideal conditions and perfect timing. Chief test pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg cut a path to a precise spot over the Mojave Desert while NASA snapped the shot.
“Thanks to Geppetto’s exceptional flying and our partnership with NASA, we were able to capture this iconic image,” Scholl continued.
The photo is a Schlieren image. Developed in 1864 by German physicist August Toepler to study supersonic motion, Schlieren photography is used in today’s aeronautical engineering. The method can reveal how light bends around differences in air pressure during supersonic flight.
The XB-1 team made software using NASA data to guide the pilot on a path where the aircraft could eclipse the sun. When the XB-1 entered the right spot, NASA got the photograph using ground telescopes with special filters that detect air distortions. That’s why the shockwaves around the aircraft are visible in the photograph.
NASA also gathered sound data from the test flight. Boom Supersonic analyzed the data and found that no audible sonic boom reached the ground. This is notable, because supersonic flights that make sonic booms over populated areas in the U.S. are prohibited.
Boom Supersonic plans to make a supersonic airplane with a sonic boom that won’t disturb people on the ground. This airplane would reduce cross-country flight times. “We confirmed that XB-1 made no audible sonic boom,” Scholl said in the same statement, “which paves the way for coast to coast flights up to 50% faster.”
The Feb. 10 test flight was the final one for XB-1. Now Boom Supersonic will take what they learned from the tests and start building a supersonic airliner called Overture.
Last year, Boom Supersonic finished building its super factory in Greensboro, North Carolina which will eventually pump out 66 Overture aircraft per year, starting with half that initially. United Airlines, American Airlines, and Japan Airlines already have orders and pre-orders in for the supersonic airliner.