A series of flights will gather the most detailed information to date about aircraft acoustics from some 1,200 microphones attached to the outside of the Boeing 787 and positioned on the ground. The collaboration between NASA and Boeing will improve the agency’s aircraft noise prediction capabilities, advance ways for pilots to reduce noise and inform future quiet aircraft designs.

“At NASA, we have been researching the individual airplane noise sources, their interactions with the airframe and how they combine to the total aircraft noise,” Russell Thomas, technical lead, NASA said. “This unique, carefully designed flight test provides the environment where all these effects are measured, which will be key to advancing our ability to design lower-noise aircraft.”