We know what a sonic boom sounds like. But what does it look like? NASA, with help from the steady flying of Boom Supersonic chief test pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg, just released a visualization of the phenomenon.
The company’s XB-1 “Baby Boom”—a demonstrator that is about one-third the size of Overture, a supersonic, SAF-powered airliner it is developing for 64 to 80 passengers—is the first independently built jet to break the sound barrier. Retired in February, it eclipsed Mach 1 six times across two test flights. But you wouldn’t be able to tell from the ground.
