Sonic booms

FEB 01, 1968

How are sonic booms created? What do they do to people and buildings? Will the future be dominated by the boom?

Harvey H. Hubbard

SONIC BOOMS are explosive sounds that occur without warning. Sometimes annoying because of their startle effects and their ability to shake buildings, these sounds pose a unique problem for the orderly development of high‐speed air transport. Although booms from military aircraft are widely observed around the world, the real concern is for proposed commercial airtransport operations that will cause repeated booms over very large areas. What are the effects of sonic booms and what steps can be taken to minimize the exposure to a suitable level?

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References

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More about the authors

Harvey H. Hubbard, Langley Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.