Scientists, Politics and SST: A Critical Review.

The article focuses on issues and topics related to a federally-funded supersonic transport (SST) project in the U.S. This project was first advocated by the aircraft industry and agencies concerned with the aviation capabilities of the U.S. Air Force. The program obtained full federal commitment as a result of a general conviction that the supersonic transport represented the next inevitable advance in commercial aviation and the fear that Soviet or Anglo-French domination of the SST market would be a blow to American prestige. Upon examination of the policy-making process which led President John F. Kennedy to decide to go ahead with the project, one can find the seriousness of two of the major environmental problems associated with the SST, including sonic boom and engine noise.