It’s certainly a challenge to find the right balance. While the new Boeing plane is getting the headlines, NASA is also planning a test flight this year of the X-59 “quiet supersonic technology” aircraft, Flight Global reports. The idea — as the name suggests — is to eventually resume the era of civilian supersonic air travel that ended 20 years ago when the Concorde stopped flying. But that project is getting pushback from environmentalists. One group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said in a January letter that “supersonic aircraft consume many times more fuel and produce many times the amount of pollution as current commercial flights,” which is a real climate problem. NASA says it’s addressing “multiple challenges to making commercial supersonic flight a reality” — including carbon emissions.
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