NASA captures unprecedented images of supersonic shockwaves

NASAhas capturedunprecedentedphotos of the interaction ofshockwavesfrom twosupersonicaircraft, part of its research into developing planes that can fly faster than sound without thunderous "sonic booms".

When an aircraft crosses that threshold -- around 1,225 kilometers (760 miles) per hour at sea level -- it produces waves from the pressure it puts on the air around it, which merge to cause the ear-splitting sound.

In an intricate maneuver by "rock star" pilots atNASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, twosupersonicT-38 jets flew just 30 feet (nine meters) apart below another plane waiting to photograph them with an advanced, high-speed camera, the agency said.

The rendezvous -- at an altitude of around 30,000 feet -- yielded mesmerizingimagesof theshockwavesemanating from both planes.

With one jet flying just behind the other, "the shocks are going to be shaped differently", said Neal Smith of AerospaceComputing Inc, an engineering firm that works withNASA, in a post on the agency's website.

"This data is really going to help us advance our understanding of how these shocks interact."

Sonic booms can be a major nuisance, capable of not just startling people on the ground but also causing damage -- like shattered windows -- and this has led to strong restrictions onsupersonicflight over land in jurisdictions like the United States.

The ability to capture such detailedimagesofshockwaveswill be "crucial" toNASA's development of the X-59, the agency said, an experimentalsupersonicplane it hopes will be able to break the sound barrier with just a rumble instead of a sonic boom.

A breakthrough like that could lead to the loosening of flight restrictions and the return of commercialsupersonicplanes for the first time since Concorde was retired in 2003.

Some countries and cities banned the Franco-British airliner from their airspace because of its sonic booms.