A supersonic plane without the BOOM? NASA and Lockheed Martin are designing an experimental X-plane called the Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) demonstrator aircraft that they hope to fly for the first time in 2019. The program is intended to solve one of the biggest problems with commercial supersonic flight: noise, and specifically the noise a plane makes when it breaks the sound barrier. But the sonic boom isn't the only noise problem on a supersonic jet. The engines themselves are incredibly loud—too loud for a commercial airport, especially as traditional airliners get quieter and the industry lowers noise limits. Our technical challenge is to demonstrate the ability to design a commercial aircraft for supersonic cruise flight and make it meet the same noise standards as everything that is currently flying and will fly for some time. That is a big challenge because traditionally airport noise has been one of the main stumbling blocks for supersonic commercial aircraft. Credit:...