GALVESTON, Texas: NASA is monitoring how residents living near the Texas Gulf Coast react to quiet sonic booms as the space agency works on an experimental aircraft that could significantly reduce commercial flight times.
NASA launched a two-week research project Monday on quiet supersonic research flights near Galveston, the Houston Chronicle reported. NASA is flying an F/A-18 jet in a unique maneuver over the Gulf of Mexico to assess the community’s response to the noise.
A spokesman said NASA officials hope the tests will produce data that can be used by the agency when testing the X-59 low boom flight demonstrator, the experimental aircraft it hopes could eventually reduce commercial flight times by half.
The Concorde, an airplane tested decades ago, could cross the Atlantic in just over three hours by traveling twice the speed of sound. But federal aviation officials banned it after residents complained about the plane’s sonic boom.
Supersonic flights by passenger planes are banned over land or close to shore in the US, although the Federal Aviation Administration can allow exceptions.
NASA recruited about 500 volunteers from the Galveston area to give feedback and define the level at which they were able to hear the sonic booms from the F/A-18. The project marks “the first time in decades that we have reached out to a large community as part of our supersonic research,” said Peter Coen, NASA’s commercial supersonic technology project manager.
Atmospheric turbulence and humidity can affect how some areas perceive the “quiet thumps” made from the jet’s special maneuver, according to NASA officials.
NASA will provide the collected public response data to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA has banned supersonic passenger flights over land partly because of concerns about how they’ll affect communities and infrastructure.
Some Galveston residents posted on Facebook about the sonic booms on Monday, the first day of testing.
“I heard the ‘quiet thump’ this morning,” resident Jeff Daniels wrote. “It’s definitely much better than a traditional sonic boom but I wouldn’t want to listen to it all the time such as regular commercial air flights. It still rattles the windows.”
NASA conducts quiet sonic boom tests near Texas Gulf Coast
NASA conducts quiet sonic boom tests near Texas Gulf Coast
- Atmospheric turbulence and humidity can affect how some areas perceive the “quiet thumps” made from the jet’s special maneuver, according to NASA officials
- NASA will provide the collected public response data to the Federal Aviation Administration
Apple to update EU browser options, make more apps deletable
- iPhone maker came under pressure from regulators to make changes after the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act took effect on March 7
- Apple users will be able to select a default browser directly from the choice screen after going through a mandatory list of options
STOCKHOLM: Apple will change how users choose browser options in the European Union, add a dedicated section for changing default apps, and make more apps deletable, the company said on Thursday.
The iPhone maker came under pressure from regulators to make changes after the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act took effect on March 7, forcing big tech companies to offer mobile users the ability to select from a list of available web browsers on a “choice screen.”
The new rules require mobile software makers to show the choice screen where users can select a browser, search engine and virtual assistant as they set up their phones, which earlier came with preferred options from Apple and Google.
In an update later this year, Apple users will be able to select a default browser directly from the choice screen after going through a mandatory list of options.
A randomly ordered list of 12 browsers per EU country will be shown to the user with short descriptions, and the chosen one will be automatically downloaded, Apple said. The choice screen will also be available on iPads through an update later this year.
Apple released a previous update in response to the new rules in March, but browser companies criticized the design of its choice screen, and the Commission opened an investigation on March 25 saying it suspected that the measures fell short of effective compliance.
The company said it has been in dialogue with the European Commission and believes the new changes will address regulators’ concerns.
It also plans to introduce a dedicated area for default apps where a user will be able to set defaults for messaging, phone calls, spam filters, password managers and keyboards.
Users will also be able to delete certain Apple-made apps such as App Store, Messages, Camera, Photos and Safari. Only Settings and Phone apps would not be deletable.
