Originally Posted by twochai
IIRC the stated purpose of NASA/Boeing of the data gathering was for some cabin noise measurements - not a particularly exciting data set!
Hmh... from the
horse's mouth
Data collected from the flight and ground experiments during the NASA-funded Tu-144LL flight research program are being used to develop the technology base for a proposed future second-generation American-built supersonic jetliner. Although development of an advanced SST is currently on hold, commercial aviation experts estimate a market for up to 500 such aircraft could develop by the third decade of the 21st century.
From recollection it was a $100m+ project - I'm sure it was for more than cabin noise measurement...