NASA to unveil X-59 supersonic plane that makes a ‘sonic thump’

NASA is preparing to publicly unveil an experimental aircraft designed to reach supersonic speeds without the disruptive – and sometimes destructive – sonic booms associated with current faster-than-sound aircraft. The agency says test flights of the X-59 could “bring a return to supersonic air travel over land”.

Many military aircraft are capable of breaking the sound barrier, but since the retirement of Concorde in 2003, only a small clutch of civilian craft can do…