No-boom supersonic flights could slide through US skies soon

Feature This week, a bipartisan bill was introduced that would allow supersonic flight over the continental US for the first time in 52 years, as long as they're quiet.

The Supersonic Aviation Modernization Act would allow America's aviation watchdog to issue licenses allowing flights over land "at a Mach number greater than one so long as the aircraft is operated in such a manner that no sonic boom reaches the ground in the United States," the legislation states [PDF].

In February, Trump advisor and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk named it as one of the federal regulations he wanted to do away with. Now, a group of Republican politicians has taken up the cause.

The bill was introduced to the Senate by Senators Ted Budd (R-NC), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Tim Sheehy (R-MT); and to the House of Representatives by Troy Nehls (R-TX), and Representative Sharice ...