CoolPix - NASA: A Green SST Concept... In More Ways Than One

(click pic for hi-res)                                                       photo: NASA/Lockheed Martin

 This CoolPix in the NASA category is really a recently released rendering of a new concept for a 'green' Super Sonic Transport by Lockheed Martin in conjunction with NASA. Note the Skunk Works logo above the outboard engine. The design was presented in April 2010 to the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate for its NASA Research Announcement - funded studies into advanced aircraft that could enter service in the 2030-2035 timeframe. One of the primary objectives of the design is to achieve supersonic cruise speeds while dramatically reducing the sonic boom when flying over terrain. Boeing's Sonic Cruiser was a concept meant to cruise just under the speed of sound, but this needly green machine appears to have cruise speeds well in excess of Mach 1 in mind. Certainly a design that could acceptably cruise supersonic over land would be quite an accomplishment. 

 I wasn't able to find much detailed info about the concept, but it seems they're also interested in minimizing the environmental impact as well. I think it's always a good idea to strive for maximum efficiency with minimal impact on the environment, but I lean that way because that's usually where the best overall experience is found for everyone. I admit that I'm not overly concerned for the impact on the planet at large, mostly because I believe it has shown itself to be more than robust enough to deal with anything we can throw at it. I realize you might disagree.

 Regardless, there's another 'green' issue here. Money. It would take some pretty big buckets of money to engineer this into a fully successful transport. As much as I enjoy dreaming of wild flying machines for the future, I honestly have to wonder if the money it would take would really be worth it.  Again, my point of view here is probably a little different than most folks. I think we desperately need transport aircraft that bring classic comfort and fabulous I-can't-wait-to-fly-again experiences to everyone. That doesn't necessarily have anything to do with going fast. We should be able to engineer the poor passenger experience out of the airplane, but for whatever reason, we haven't. Sure, we've got some incredible luxury experiences available in the sky these days, but ultimately, there shouldn't be a single bad seat on any airliner. I'm hopeful that the 787 will actually be at the leading edge of this kind of thinking... and we should have a good idea of where it stands on 'passenger experience' before long.

 So, please be sure to click the pic and check out this needle-nose SST up close. But if you're an aeronautical engineer and schooling up on great aircraft designs for the future, could you please consider finding ways to make airliners profitable while also offering lots of leg and elbow room for everyone? Me and about 2 billion other cheap seat passengers per year would like to thank you in advance for your help : )

Comments

[ecoarhitectura]

Whow... that means alien tech...