The downside, supersonic travel creates a shock wave or sonic boom that is loud and disruptive over land, which is why it's only intended for long hauls across oceans.

不利的一面是，超速飞行会产一种冲击波或潮，横跨陆地的时候声会很响亮且具有破坏性，这就是为什么它只能适用于横跨海洋的长途旅行。

The pilot of the airplane won't actually feel the sonic boom.

飞机的驾驶员实际上不会感觉到爆。

As you can imagine, sonic booms can be disruptive to life on the ground.

不难想象，爆会对地表物造成何种破坏。

And Christine Darden is best known for her sonic boom research.

克里斯汀·达顿以其爆研究而闻名。

This can be heard from the ground as a sonic boom.

在地面上 可以听到一声“爆”。

If a jet or a bullet travels faster than the speed that the sound waves can travel, then those sound waves bunch up and create a shock wave that we hear as a sonic boom.

如果喷气式飞机或子弹的速度超过了声波的传播速度，那么这些声波聚集在一起，形成冲击波，我们可以听到爆。

When they were retired in 2003 mainly due to unsustainable operational costs, and complaints about the thunderous sonic boom nothing took their place until now.

其在2003退休，主要是因为不可持续的运营成本，和乘客对雷鸣般的爆的抱怨，它们一直无法被取代，直到现在。

This Sonic boom, an enormous amount of sound energy created when an aircraft breaks the sound barrier, which is about 750 miles per hour.

爆指的是飞机突破障时产的巨大声能，时速约为 750 英里。

So the airplane won't actually be in the sonic boom.

因此，飞机实际上不会受到爆的影响。

But they've had to spend decades researching ways to fix issues with supersonic travel like a little thing called Sonic boom.

但是此前他们已经花了数十的时间来研究如何解决超速飞行的问题，比如一个叫做爆的“小”问题。

When I heard a sonic boom for the first time, I finally understood why it was such a big deal.

当我第一次听到爆的时候，我终于明白了它为何如此重要。

To understand how this might work, it's important to understand how a sonic boom happens.

要了解其工作原理，必须先了解爆是如何产的。

So right across the sonic boom, you have a change in pressure and temperature and density.

因此，在爆的瞬间，压力、温度和密度都会发变化。

If we can make that sonic boom a lot lower, we can actually fly supersonic over land and it would make it much more profitable for the operator.

如果我们能把爆降低很多，我们就能在陆地上空进行超速飞行，这将使运营商获得更多的利润。

It's designed to go supersonic without making the loud sonic boom, that -- that we've been accustomed to hearing for decades now.

它的设计目的是达到超速，而不会产巨大的爆，我们已经听了几十了。

But that sonic boom will radiate down toward the ground, and that's probably what this person heard, and it does sound a lot like thunder.

但是，爆会向下辐射到地面，这可能就是这个人听到的声，听起来确实很像打雷。

It's similar to a sonic boom but with light instead of sound.

它类似于爆，但用的是光而不是声。

Since a bullet moves faster than the speed of sound it creates a sonic boom.

由于子弹的飞行速度超过速， 它会产爆。

The air exited tunnels with a sonic boom that could be heard 400 meters away.

空气离开隧道时会发出爆， 400 米外都能听到。

But what exactly causes the sonic boom in the first place?

但是到底是什么原因导致了爆呢？