"We know there's pressure to make that plane or you're traveling with family or bringing special foods you don't want to get squished, " said Fitzpatrick.

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Early ideas suggested blunting the nose of the plane to prevent the pressure waves joining up to form one intense shock wave, or lengthening the plane without increasing its weight to dampen the noise.

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Then, seemingly tired, she squints at the afternoon sun, hesitating before cracking her jaws in the yawning attitude of a passenger in a plane clearing her ears of accumulated air pressure.

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There were two brief delays in the countdown, one caused by a cabin-pressure sensor that had to be reset, the other by a private plane that wandered into Cape Canaveral airspace and had to be shooed out.

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Experts investigating the plane crash which killed the golfer Payne Stewart and five others in October say a low-pressure alarm sounded shortly before the fatal accident.

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The plane routinely flies at altitudes over 70, 000 feet, requiring the pilot to wear a full pressure suit, much like an astronaut.

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