Flights Will Begin August 21 At Kennedy Space Center

NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is partnering with the agency's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, Langley Research Center in Virginia, and Space Florida for a series of flights to conduct sonic boom research under NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology project. NASA’s supersonic research, spanning decades, is leading toward quieting the sonic boom to more of a quiet “thump.”

SonicBAT flights will begin Aug. 21 and extend over approximately two weeks originating from the Kennedy Space Center. A NASA F-18 aircraft will take off from the Shuttle Landing Facility and fly at supersonic speeds while agency researchers on the ground measure the effects of low-altitude turbulence on sonic booms.

The project aims to collect data in three different conditions, including low turbulence, medium turbulence and significant turbulence, to obtain a stronger understanding of how the variations impact sonic booms.

SonicBAT is a continuation of the 2016 successful supersonic research flights flown at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, located in the dry atmosphere at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The project now looks to gather similar data in the humid atmosphere at Kennedy.

(Image provided with NASA news release)

FMI: www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/features/sonic_boom_tests_set_for_ksc.html