Crown Consulting Inc. (Crown) has been selected by Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc. (HMMH) to support a $29 million, eight-year NASA contract to collect data that could enable supersonic flight over land, significantly reducing travel time.

NASAs Low-Boom Flight Demonstration has built a supersonic research aircraft (X-59) with technology that reduces its sonic boom to a thump. The HMMH team will acquire noise measurements of test flights over selected U.S. communities and measure resident responses to the supersonic sound. Crown will bring its expertise in airspace operations and aircraft design to the team in support of planning and operations of the X-59 test flights.

NASA will provide the results of the team’s community testing to regulators in the United States and elsewhere for use in developing sound regulations that could allow supersonic flights.

“Through extensive analysis and ground testing, the X-59 program has proven the feasibility of mitigating noise emissions of supersonic aircraft. NASA is now ready to evaluate the performance in flight. Crown looks forward to supporting HMMH as part of this breakthrough in supersonic aircraft design,” said Crown Chief Technology Officer Dr. Thomas Edwards.

“Opening the air space to faster-than-sound travel would be a game changer for air cargo and passenger travel,” said Crown CEO Al Khan. “We are excited to be part of the team paving the way with this project.”

Read NASA’s news release

About Crown Consulting Inc.

Crown Consulting Inc. is shaping the future of air transportation with concept development, design and deployment of systems and aircraft. Crown brings more than three decades working with the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, states and industry. Its Science & Research, Programs & Engineering and Integration & Infrastructure teams integrate industry-leading air mobility technology and planning support, engineering, information solutions and advanced analytics that enhance system performance and provide robust air mobility solutions for government and industry clients. For more information, visit www.crownci.com.