00:00What if an aircraft could break the sound barrier without the thunderous sonic boom that usually comes with it?
00:06That's the future NASA is chasing, and this week its experimental X-59 aircraft took a major step toward making
00:12it a reality.
00:14The X-59 completed its first ever supersonic flight, reaching Mach 1.1, or more than 700 miles per hour.
00:22But unlike previous supersonic aircraft, speed isn't the main story.
00:26The X-59 was specifically designed to reshape the shock waves that create a sonic boom,
00:31turning what would normally be an explosive crack into a much quieter thump.
00:36That could solve a problem that has limited supersonic travel for decades.
00:40The Concorde proved commercial supersonic flight was possible,
00:43carrying passengers across the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound,
00:47but its loud sonic boom restricted most flights to routes over the ocean.
00:52NASA hopes the X-59 can change that.
00:54Later this year, the aircraft will fly over communities across the United States
00:59as researchers measure how people perceive its sound.
01:02If successful, the data could help rewrite aviation noise standards
01:06and bring commercial supersonic travel over land one step closer to reality.
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