Supersonic

Relive the First Flight of NASA’s ‘Quiet’ Supersonic Jet With This Thrilling Video

X-59 is designed to achieve supersonic speeds without all that noise.

Space & Spaceflight Passant Rabie

NASA’s Supersonic Jet Finally Takes off for Its First Super Fast, Super Quiet Flight

X-59 is designed to usher in a new era of air travel with its quiet supersonic technology.

Space & Spaceflight Passant Rabie

What Ending the U.S. Ban on Supersonic Flight Means for the Future of Travel

Passenger aircraft could fly from New York to Los Angeles in around two hours, but there are still challenges that stand in the way.

Transportation Passant Rabie

The X-59's Mach diamonds during maximum afterburner testing.

NASA Just Fired up Its Quiet Supersonic Jet—and It Looks Like Pure Speed

The X-59 is proving out the agency's quiet supersonic technology, and looking great in the process.

Space & Spaceflight Isaac Schultz

Boom's demonstrator aircraft on its record-breaking flight.

Boom Supersonic’s X-B1 Plane Breaks Sound Barrier, Bringing Supersonic Travel Closer to Reality

The aerospace company put its technology to the test today, breaking the sound barrier and reviving the dream of supersonic commercial flight.

Space & Spaceflight Isaac Schultz

Dyson Redesigned the Hair Dryer So It’s Easier and Safer to Use

Having already re-engineered vacuum cleaners and fans from the ground up, Dyson has now applied its expertise at moving air to an appliance you probably use every day, and despise doing so. The Dyson Supersonic wants to replace the hair dryer in your bathroom with a lighter, safer, and quieter alternative. The starting point for…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski

The world’s first supersonic private jet just got a lot closer to reality

Meet the Aerion AS2. It’s the first supersonic private jet in the world and it just got a 20-unit order from Flexjet, a private air company. It’s going to change the way some people (rich people!) fly because it can hit speeds of Mach 1.5 thus shaving down the hours needed to travel across the…

Sploid Casey Chan

Hybrid rocket test looks like dimensional portal sucking reality itself

The first time I saw this image I thought of an inter-dimensional portal of evil sucking in reality. It’s actually the test of the Nammo hybrid rocket engine that will power the Bloodhound. If everything goes as planned, the Bloodhound will be the first supersonic car to reach 1000mph (1,609.34 km/h). In the car there…

Sploid Jesus Diaz

Here’s how the wheels of the supersonic car are made

When you’re trying to build the fastest car in human history, like the guys making the Bloodhound SSC, you have to make wheels that basically re-invent the wheel. To reach 1000mph and go supersonic, the wheels they’re using weigh over 230 pounds, nearly 3 feet wide and spin four times faster than a F1 car.…

Sploid Casey Chan

Holy crap, a supersonic ping pong ball can destroy a ping pong paddle

Ping pong balls are fragile—they can be easily be crushed with your fingers. Ping pong paddles are really hard—they can easily break your finger bones and do serious damage. With that in mind, watch this video of a supersonic ping pong ball destroying a paddle in slow motion. It’s incredible. John Huhn from the Motion…

Sploid Jesus Diaz

How NASA’s Supercritical Wings Save Airlines Millions Every Year

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, aviation engineers struggled to overcome an important issue: That planes became increasingly difficult to control, the closer they got to the sound barrier. It wasn’t until NASA strapped a pair of custom-made wings onto this fighter that supersonic flight became not just feasible, but downright commonplace. See, as a plane…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola

The First Supersonic Private Jet Has Huge Screens Instead of Windows

Windows are kind of a drag for airplanes—literally. They add extra weight, weaken the body, and generally slow the aircraft down. That’s why the new Spike S-512 Supersonic Jet won’t have any. Instead, passengers get to enjoy their sky-high surroundings on real-time, panoramic video screens. It sounds a little silly, but it’s true. The $80…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes

Spectacular photos of SpaceShipTwo breaking the sound barrier

SpaceShipTwo just finished its third rocket-powered test and reached the highest altitude its ever been at 71,000 feet by hitting a maximum velocity of Mach 1.4. You can see the new reflective coating on the rocket plane’s tail booms which perfectly reflects the flame and our Earth. Lovely. Cant wait to book my ticket! Here’s…

Sploid Casey Chan

This Nuclear Bomber Could Break the Sound Barrier Twice Over

Delivering a nuclear strike is only the first phase of a mission. Next comes the most important part: hightailing it out of there before the entire area turns to glass. And for crews aboard America’s first supersonic bomber, getting the heck out of Dodge was done at twice the speed of sound. Developed for the…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola

The World’s First Supersonic UAV Is Ready for Takeoff

The ability to drop bombs on targets a continent away can be a huge tactical advantage (even if it is just saber-rattling). Doing so at supersonic speeds, nearly automatically, is even better. That’s why the UK has spent the better part of a decade developing the Taranis, one of the biggest and fastest UAV in…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola

The Forgotten Gadget That Powered The Industrial Revolution

Recently, a group of students at Purdue University used a simple device to make a ping-pong ball break the speed of sound. But that’s not the coolest part. The device they used, called a de Laval nozzle, is actually centuries old. It’s no exaggeration to call this the gadget that made the industrial revolution possible…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

The Awesome NASA Supersonic Passenger Plane That Wants to Kill the Sonic Boom

NASA and its partners keep making progress in their quest to design a new passenger airliner that can fly supersonic without making a lot of noise, one of the main problems with the Concorde. And that progress looks space-age awesome. This is one of the two subscale models—designed by Boeing—being now tested in the supersonic…

Tech News Jesus Diaz

Red Bull’s Chief Engineer Explains Felix Baumgartner’s Tech

Felix Baumgartner’s record-breaking supersonic jump was an amazing feat of human endeavour. But getting Felix to break the speed of sound caused Red Bull Stratos technical project director Art Thompson some engineering headaches. Here’s how he solved them. https://gizmodo.com/space-jump-full-video-supersonic-awesomeness-5951621 Engadget has been chatting to Thompson about the technical problems faced in getting Felix up in…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

Chuck Yeager Breaks Speed of Sound Once Again—65 Years After His Historic Flight

This is unforgivable. With all the hoopla about yesterday’s crazy supersonic space jump, we didn’t celebrate yesterday’s 65th anniversary of the first man to go faster than the speed of sound, a true American hero: the now retired Brigadier General Chuck Yeager. https://gizmodo.com/space-jump-full-video-supersonic-awesomeness-5951621 But yesterday, as Baumgartner was jumping 24 miles up in the sky,…

Tech News Jesus Diaz

Watch Felix Baumgartner reattempt his supersonic Space Jump [Updated: Jump was a success!]

Skydiver Felix Baumgartner wasn’t able to attempt his record-setting jump last week on account of the weather. He tries again today, and you can follow his mission live on YouTube. His capsule was expected to launch at 11 AM ET (Update: Doors have opened and he’s preparing to jump!), so keep your eyes and ears…

io9 Lauren Davis

Supersonic

Relive the First Flight of NASA’s ‘Quiet’ Supersonic Jet With This Thrilling Video

NASA’s Supersonic Jet Finally Takes off for Its First Super Fast, Super Quiet Flight

What Ending the U.S. Ban on Supersonic Flight Means for the Future of Travel

NASA Just Fired up Its Quiet Supersonic Jet—and It Looks Like Pure Speed

Boom Supersonic’s X-B1 Plane Breaks Sound Barrier, Bringing Supersonic Travel Closer to Reality

Dyson Redesigned the Hair Dryer So It’s Easier and Safer to Use

The world’s first supersonic private jet just got a lot closer to reality

Hybrid rocket test looks like dimensional portal sucking reality itself

Here’s how the wheels of the supersonic car are made

Holy crap, a supersonic ping pong ball can destroy a ping pong paddle

How NASA’s Supercritical Wings Save Airlines Millions Every Year

The First Supersonic Private Jet Has Huge Screens Instead of Windows

Spectacular photos of SpaceShipTwo breaking the sound barrier

This Nuclear Bomber Could Break the Sound Barrier Twice Over

The World’s First Supersonic UAV Is Ready for Takeoff

The Forgotten Gadget That Powered The Industrial Revolution

The Awesome NASA Supersonic Passenger Plane That Wants to Kill the Sonic Boom

Red Bull’s Chief Engineer Explains Felix Baumgartner’s Tech

Chuck Yeager Breaks Speed of Sound Once Again—65 Years After His Historic Flight

Watch Felix Baumgartner reattempt his supersonic Space Jump [Updated: Jump was a success!]

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