NASA and Lockheed Martin officially unveiled the X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft on Friday. This experimental airplane, developed by NASA, aims to gather data that could revolutionize air travel, potentially leading to a new era of commercial aircraft capable of travelling faster than the speed of sound.
“This is a major accomplishment made possible only through the hard work and ingenuity from NASA and the entire X-59 team,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “In just a few short years we’ve gone from an ambitious concept to reality. NASA’s X-59 will help change the way we travel, bringing us closer together in much less time.”
During a ceremony at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, Melroy and other senior officials revealed the aircraft.
The X-59 is at the centre of NASA’s Quesst mission, which focuses on providing data to help regulators reconsider rules that prohibit commercial supersonic flight over land. For 50 years, the U.S. and other nations have prohibited such flights because of the disturbance caused by loud, startling sonic booms in the communities below. The X-59 is expected to fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound, or 925 mph. Its design, shaping, and technologies will allow the aircraft to achieve these speeds while generating a quieter sonic thump.
Bob Pearce, associate administrator for aeronautics research at NASA Headquarters, emphasized the ambitious nature of Quesst and its potential benefits. “NASA will share the data and technology we generate from this one-of-a-kind mission with regulators and with industry. By demonstrating the possibility of quiet commercial supersonic travel over land, we seek to open new commercial markets for U.S. companies and benefit travellers around the world.”
Following the completion of the rollout, the Quesst team will proceed with integrated systems testing, engine runs, and taxi testing for the X-59. The aircraft is scheduled for its first flight later this year, followed by its inaugural quiet supersonic flight. Flight tests will initially be conducted at Skunk Works before transitioning to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
“Across both teams, talented, dedicated, and passionate scientists, engineers, and production artisans have collaborated to develop and produce this aircraft,” said John Clark, vice president and general manager at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. “We’re honored to be a part of this journey to shape the future of supersonic travel over land alongside NASA and our suppliers.”
Once NASA completes flight tests, the agency will fly the aircraft over several to-be-selected cities across the U.S., collecting input about the sound the X-59 generates and how people perceive it. NASA will provide that data to the Federal Aviation Administration and international regulators. The X-59 is a unique experimental aeroplane, not a prototype – its technologies are meant to inform future generations of quiet supersonic aircraft.
At 99.7 feet long and 29.5 feet wide, the aircraft’s shape and the technological advancements it houses will make quiet supersonic flight possible. The X-59’s thin, tapered nose accounts for almost a third of its length and will break up the shock waves that would ordinarily result in a supersonic aircraft causing a sonic boom.
Due to this configuration, the cockpit is located almost halfway down the length of the aircraft – and does not have a forward-facing window. Instead, the Quesst team developed the eXternal Vision System, a series of high-resolution cameras feeding a 4K monitor in the cockpit. The Quest team also designed the aircraft with its engine mounted on top and gave it a smooth underside to help keep shockwaves from merging behind the aircraft and causing a sonic boom.
