It depicts a U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School T-38C passing in front of the sun at supersonic speed, generating shockwaves.
The photograph was taken by NASA for research purposes using a modern version of schlieren imagery, a 150-year-old German photography technique, used to visualize supersonic flow phenomena with full-scale aircraft in flight.
According to NASA, the results of the research will help engineers to design a quiet supersonic transport aircraft.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
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