When a new generation of supersonic aircraft will return to the blue sky after the joint development of the "Concorde" supersonic passenger plane by Britain and France ceased operation in 2003 has attracted much attention from the aviation industry. On the 4th, the UK's "Flight International" website reported that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States has confirmed that the XB-1 technology validation aircraft developed by American aviation company Boom Supersonic has recently successfully reached supersonic state during test flights without emitting a huge sonic boom, laying a solid foundation for the operation of the new generation of supersonic passenger aircraft. According to reports, the sonic boom generated by aircraft breaking through the speed of sound can create huge vibrations and noise on the ground. Therefore, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States has stipulated that civilian aircraft are not allowed to break through the speed of sound over the mainland of the United States. At that time, the Concorde aircraft could only start supersonic flight at sea after flying over land in the United States. Therefore, for many years, whether supersonic aircraft can avoid producing sonic booms when breaking through the sound barrier has been a key indicator for their return to the blue sky. The purpose of the XB-1 technology verification machine is to test whether the carefully designed appearance can achieve the effect of "supersonic without sonic boom". The aircraft has a total length of 19.08 meters and is equipped with three GE J85-15 engines with afterburning. In addition, the sharp and slender front fuselage design makes it look very similar to modern fighter jets. The XB-1 technology verification aircraft successfully made its maiden flight in March 2024 and achieved its first supersonic flight in January of this year. In order to verify whether the aircraft produces a sonic boom during supersonic flight, NASA successfully captured the moment when the XB-1 broke through the speed of sound during its supersonic test flight on February 10th using "schlieren photography" technology. Glitter photography "refers to the use of ground-based telescopes equipped with filters to capture images of light refracted by air due to temperature or pressure changes. This technique allows for the observation of shock waves generated during high-speed flight of aircraft. While confirming that XB-1 has reached supersonic state, NASA's instruments on the ground also received volume data from XB-1's flight path, confirming that no sonic boom was heard on the ground during the flight. According to Boom Supersonic's plan, after proving the feasibility of the "no sonic boom supersonic" technology, the next step will be to develop the "Overture" supersonic aircraft based on the XB-1 technology validation aircraft, which can carry 64-80 people, cruise at a speed of 1.7 Mach, have a maximum range of 7867 kilometers, and a maximum flight altitude of 18000 meters. It is reported that although the Concorde aircraft has a cruising speed of 2 Mach, its fuel consumption is very high, and its takeoff and landing require a runway of 3000 meters, making its operating costs extremely expensive. In contrast, the newly developed "Overture" is not only quieter and more fuel-efficient, but also has lower requirements for airport runways, which has attracted widespread attention from the aviation industry. Currently, Japan Airlines, United Airlines, and American Airlines have ordered a total of 130 "Overture" aircraft. (New Society)