Listen closely: A quiet, supersonic jet capable of blasting through the sound barrier without emitting a sonic boom could pass over your home as soon as 2022. A decade later, you might even be able to ride in one. NASA and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. are working together to build an experimental plane (or "X-plane") called the Low-Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD), which will reduce the sonic boom synonymous with high-speed flight to "a gentle thump," NASA representatives said at a news conference today (April 3).