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In the future, the demand for air transportation will only grow. The most effective way to respond to this demand may be to make aircraft bigger and faster.
If we made airplanes longer than they are now, their bottom would hit the ground during take-off and landing. Therefore, airplanes can only grow in width and height. Airbus Industrie is developing the A-380, with a full double deck, which can carry 600 people or more. But a bigger fuselage raises new problems, such as the need to find a new way to evacuate the plane safely and quickly in an emergency.
In designing faster aircraft, there are also problems to overcome. These include the sonic boom, the loud noise that happens when the plane hits the speed of sound; and preventing structural damage to the fuselage due to air friction at extremely high speeds (>Mach 2.5). There is also the issue of polluting the atmosphere at very high altitude with exhaust gas containing a high density of nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. We must find a way to cleanse the exhaust gas to protect the ozone layer. For now we must strike a balance between convenience and protecting the environment, although the era may come when airplanes are powered with hydrogen. |
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Transonic Wind Tunnel (Aerospace Research Center) |
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