Interacting Shockwaves

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Text, Earth Watch, Exploring the blue planet by satellite. Earth Observatory. Earth Observatory dot nasa dot gov. Air-to-air Background Oriented Schlieren Flight series. NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center.
 
2019. Interacting Shockwaves. This stunning image of a pair of supersonic T-38 jet planes shows the interaction of shockwaves that form when aircraft fly faster than the speed of sound.
 
Two jets fly upward through bands of red, orange yellow and black. The bands warp as the jets pass through them. Text, Shockwaves merge together as they travel through the atmosphere and are responsible for what is heard on the ground as a sonic boom.
 
The flight demonstrated a new system that will be used to capture data crucial to confirming the design of NASA's X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology X-plane.
 
A photo of an X-59 Quesst as it flies over a field. Text, This plane will fly faster than the speed of sound, but will produce shockwaves in such a way that will make a quiet rumble rather than a loud sonic boom.
 
The ability to fly supersonic without a sonic boom may help lift restrictions on supersonic flight over land.
 
Schlieren photography is a technique used to image the flow of air around objects. While NASA has previously used the technique to study shockwaves, these flights feature an advanced approach that allowed researches to capture three times the amount of data in the same amount of time.
 
To learn more, go to earth observatory dot nasa dot gov.