Schlieren Photography Reveals Supersonic Transition Of XB-1 This is a unique perspective on the supersonic process via specialized photography in association with NASA. Boom Aerospace the developers of the XB-1 supersonic demonstrator and eventually the Overture supersonic civil aircraft have taken the demonstrator through the sound barrier in their last rounds of testing. Besides knowing that knowledge, and seeing regular images of the demonstrator on the test flights it is difficult to visualize what those supersonic flights look like.
During XB-1’s second supersonic flight on February 10, 2025, NASA teams on the ground used Schlieren photography, a technique to visualize the shock waves resulting from XB-1 pushing through the air at supersonic speeds. In January, XB-1 became the first independently developed jet to fly faster than the speed of sound, and the first civil supersonic jet built in America.
“This image makes the invisible visible—the first American made civil supersonic jet breaking the sound barrier. Thanks to Geppetto’s exceptional flying and our partnership with NASA, we were able to capture this iconic image,” said Blake Scholl, Founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. “We also confirmed that XB-1 made no audible sonic boom, which paves the way for coast to coast flights up to 50% faster.”
Taking Schlieren images requires ideal conditions and timing, and exceptional flying by the pilot. Boom Chief Test Pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg positioned XB-1 at an exact time in a precise location over the Mojave Desert to enable NASA to photograph XB-1 flying in front of the sun, documenting the changing air density around the aircraft at speeds exceeding Mach 1. Using waypoints computed by NASA, the XB-1 team rapidly developed avionics software to guide the pilot to the specific points in space that XB-1 would have to fly through in order to eclipse the sun. To capture the imagery, NASA used ground telescopes with special filters that detect air distortions, such as shock waves, around the supersonic aircraft. For more information: BOOM Supersonic Centennial Airport, Dove Valley, Colorado ***
