今天，该机构宣布决定向洛克希德马丁航空公司（LMAC）授予开发合同。这家总部位于加利福尼亚的公司一直负责开发一种“低爆炸飞行演示器”（LBFD），这种实验飞机可以实现近乎沉默的超音速旅行。
美国国家航空航天局与LBFD的最终目标是将超音速飞行带到消费市场，从而可以比以往更快地运送。正如Engadget所指出的那样，消费类飞机上的这种技术可能为纽约和洛杉矶等城市之间的飞行速度打开两个小时。
……该机构将在美国的部分城市飞行LBFD，询问居民是否在事后听到任何消息。

LMAC将在2.475亿美元的预算范围内开发实验飞机。在2021年的某个时候收到完成的飞机后，NASA将进行一系列测试飞行以确保该技术按预期工作。之后，在2022年中期，该机构将在美国部分城市飞行LBFD，询问居民在事后是否听到任何消息。

尽管这项技术听起来很有趣，但LBFD技术很可能不会很快在你当地的机场着陆。美国国家航空和宇宙航行局仍需通过相当多的繁文缛节来阻止超音速飞机在陆地上空飞行。

E文：

NASA awards Lockheed Martin $250 million contract for the development of a quiet supersonic aircraft

Hopping on a plane is certainly one of the faster ways to travel the world but there’s always room for improvement. This is a sentiment NASA seems to agree with if their latest announcement is anything to go by.

Today, the agency announced their decision to award a development contract to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company (LMAC). The California-based company has been tasked with developing a “Low Boom Flight Demonstrator,” (LBFD) an experimental aircraft that could achieve near-silent supersonic travel.

NASA’s ultimate goal with the LBFD is to bring supersonic flight to consumer markets, allowing for quicker transit than ever before. As Engadget notes, such technology in a consumer plane could open the door to flights as fast as two hours between cities like New York and Los Angeles.

…the agency will fly the LBFD over select US cities, asking residents whether or not they heard anything after the fact.

LMAC will be working within a $247.5 million budget to develop the experimental aircraft. After receiving the finished aircraft sometime in 2021, NASA will conduct a series of test flights to ensure the technology is working as intended. Later, in mid-2022, the agency will fly the LBFD over select US cities, asking residents whether or not they heard anything after the fact.

As interesting as this technology sounds, LBFD technology likely won’t be making its way to your local airport anytime soon. NASA will still have to get through quite a bit of red tape currently preventing supersonic flights from taking place over land.

源自：techspot