Super Sonic Transport Service
On May 24, 1976 began 16 months of trial Super Sonic Transport service to Dulles International Airport, Washington, DC.
The Concorde, which is the British-French SST, visited Fairbanks two years ago for Arctic testing, seats 128 and flies at a speed of 2.2 times the speed of sound enabling it to cross the Atlantic in 3 1/2 hours.
Current opposition to the SST, which had led to cancellation of Boeing's effort to develop a prototype, is partially based upon several unanswered scientific questions. What are the long-term effects upon our atmosphere of the release of large quantities of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and various oxides of nitrogen and sulfur? The altitude of release of these emissions is at the base of the stratosphere, a relatively stable layer of the atmosphere, and the location of the world's ozone layer which serves as a protective shield from the sun's ultraviolet rays. Supporters of the SST assert that damage to the ozone layer will be minimal; the concern, as yet unresolved by rigorous data, is that enough water will be released by successive years of SST flights to react with and deplete the ozone, removing a significant amount of this protective layer.
Of more direct concern is the effect of sonic boom and takeoff and landing noise which will be assessed directly in the next year and a half by the citizens residing near Dulles airport. Sonic boom may be rectified by a suitable flight path and could be abated through engine modification. Long-term effects upon our atmosphere, however, will require extensive scientific testing and will provide the ultimate criterion.
