We try not to get too excited about concepts, but this thing is something else.
After Concorde, the future of supersonic air travel didn’t look so bright. However, NASA have a vision for a quieter, greener new version. The original Concorde got just 14 passenger-miles to the gallon (compared to 91 for a Boeing 747) and the horrific noise of the ‘sonic boom’ it made when travelling at high speed meant that it could only do so over the ocean to avoid terrifying environmentalists, old people and small animals. The new ‘inverted v’ wing at the back of the plane cancels out the sound problems however and apparently the fuel efficiency appears to be much better.
So next time you need to get somewhere at Mach 1, there might just be an environmental way to do so… If you’re willing to wait until 2030, that is…
(source: TreeHugger)
