Quieter, greener supersonic travel is the focus of eight studies selected by NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology Project to receive more than $2.3 million in funding for research that may help overcome the remaining barriers to commercial supersonic flight.
The research, which will be conducted by universities and industry, will address sonic booms and high-altitude emissions from supersonic jets.
The titles of the studies and details of the awards are:
Global Environmental Impact of Supersonic Cruise Aircraft in the Stratosphere
$1.2 million over four years
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Principal Investigator: Steven Barrett
The Influence of Turbulence on Shaped Sonic Booms
$1.2 million over three years
Wyle Laboratories, Arlington, Virginia
Principal Investigator: Kenneth Plotkin
Sonic Boom Display
$698,000
Rockwell Collins, Columbia, Maryland
Principal Investigator: Laura Smith-Velazquez
Pilot Interface for Mitigating Sonic Boom
$686,000 over two years
Honeywell, Golden Valley, Minnesota
Principal Investigator: Olu Olofinboba
Quiet Nozzle Concepts for Low Boom Aircraft
$575,000 over two years
University of California, Irvine
Principal Investigator: Dimitri Papamoschou
Evaluation of Low Noise Integration Concepts and Propulsion Technologies for Future Supersonic Civil Transports
$599,000 over two years
GE Global Research, Niskayuna, New York
Principal Investigator: Kishore Ramakrishnan
Waveforms and Sonic Boom Perception and Response Risk Reduction
$337,000 for one year
Applied Physical Sciences, Groton, Connecticut
Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Allanach
Risk Reduction for Future Community Testing with a Low-Boom Flight Demonstration Vehicle
$393,000 over one year
Fidell Associates, Woodland Hills, California
Principal Investigator: Sanford Fidell
The awards to Applied Physical Sciences and Fidell Associates are guaranteed only for the first year. One of the two will be selected to receive about $450,000 a year for two more years.
For more information about NASA’s aeronautics research, go to: http://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics