If you’ve heard a sonic boom recently, you probably remember it. The loud, explosion-like bang – caused by a plane flying faster than the speed of sound – can be startling, and even crack windows.

Sonic booms are part of the reason why there are no supersonic passenger planes flying today, and one of the limiting factors to the success of Concorde, which last flew in 2003. The supersonic airliner was restricted to subsonic speeds when flying over land or near coastlines, and current international regulations still limit the speed of commercial transport over land to below Mach 1, or the speed of sound, to avoid the disturbance of sonic booms over inhabited areas.

Now, NASA is working to change those regulations by transforming the boom into a “thump,” paving the way for a new generation of quieter supersonic aircraft. The agency is doing so through a program called Quesst, which is the result of decades of research and is centered around a new aircraft called the X-59, which debuted Friday..