In order to evaluate the effects of sonic booms NASA have built a room that is something of a wet dream for an audio enthusiast. Comprising 52 JL Audio subwoofers amongst other transducers the room is capable of emulating the overpressure and SPL of different degrees of sonic boom shockwave whilst appearing to be an ordinary American middle class living area in order to evaluate the tolerance of households to potential regular supersonic aircraft.

For some time NASA has been working on ways of reducing the ground shockwave effects of supersonic aircraft and have demonstrated a severely modified Northrop F5 that was effectively a Quiet Supersonic Aircraft.

As a child in the UK there was a brief glorious period when the countryside was regularly shaken with supersonic booms as RAF Lightnings passed overhead at thirty thousand feet to prepare people for Concorde ... I loved it.

Unfortunately it seemed the rest of the world didn't feel the same way effectively dooming supersonic travel and leaving us in the hands of Boeing.

NASA listening for the boom and rattle