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NASA captured the very first photos showing the shock waves of supersonic jets interacting in flight. The beautiful images were captured in an extremely difficult air-to-air photo shoot.
To create groundbreaking photos, NASA has endowed a dual-turboprop B-200 research aircraft with a new imaging system (capable of producing 1,400 frames per second for up to 3 seconds) and the ability to create new images. piloted at an altitude of about 30,000 feet. Two supersonic Northrop T-38 Talon jets were then flown at supersonic speeds at a lower altitude.
"[T]The pair of T-38s had to not only stay in formation but also fly at supersonic speeds just when it was directly under the B-200, "says NASA. "The images were captured as a result of the fact that the three aircraft were in exactly the right place at the right time designated by the NASA operations team."
The T-38s seen in the photos were only about thirty meters away from each other.
The technique behind these photos is known as Background Oriented Schlieren (BOS), which allows you to use relatively inexpensive photography equipment to visualize air, heat, and sound. NASA's Schlieren (AirBOS) -based air-to-air background has been under development for over a decade.
The shockwaves seen in the photos are "rapid pressure changes that occur when an aircraft flies faster than the speed of sound, or supersonic," NASA says. "The shock waves produced by planes merge when they pass through the atmosphere and are responsible for what we hear on the ground like a boom."
NASA will use this same system to test a new supersonic aircraft that will be able to fly without producing a sonic boom. This plane could pave the way for the lifting of government restrictions during supersonic flights over the earth.
Image credits: NASA photographs
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