The invisible has become visible! NASA captured the breaking of the sound barrier in a photo

The US government agency captured the breaking of the sound barrier in a photo. "The invisible has become visible" thanks to the first American civilian supersonic jet.

NASA ground teams used Schlieren's photograph to capture shock waves around Boom Supersonic's XB-1 demonstration aircraft as it moved through the air. The jet completed its second flight at Mach 1, CNN reports.

"This image makes the invisible visible," said Boom Supersonic founder and CEO Blake Scholl.

To capture Schlieren's image, Boom's chief test pilot, Tristan "Geppetto" Brandenburg, positioned the XB-1 at the exact time in the exact location over the Mojave Desert, experts say.

When the plane flew in front of the sun, the NASA team documented a change in airspeed of more than Mach 1, the speed of sound (1225.1 kilometers per hour).

According to experts, the images were taken using ground-based telescopes with special filters that detect air distortion.

NASA teams also collected data on the volume of sound emitted by the XB-1 along the flight route. The analysis revealed that no sound rumbling reached the ground during the flight, the researchers say.

Minimizing sonic boom was a key goal for engineers involved in the race to bring back commercial supersonic air travel. After all, the thunderous noises created by sonic booms were banned by international governments over densely populated areas.

Blake Scholl emphasizes that the absence of sonic boom "paves the way for flights from the coast to be up to 50% faster."

According to Boom, there are already 130 orders and pre-orders for the long-awaited aircraft from American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines.

It should be reminded that almost 55 years have passed since the first flight of the Concorde 002 prototype at Mach 1 on March 25, 1970.

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