NASA's X-59 flies supersonic, advancing quiet-boom research
NASA's experimental X-59 jet flew supersonic for the first time on June 5th, then reached Mach 1.4 at fifty-five thousand feet, the target for upcoming community overflights. Built by Lockheed Martin $LMT Skunk Works for NASA's Quesst mission, it is shaped to replace the loud son
NASA's experimental X-59 reached two milestones this month. On June 5th it flew faster than sound for the first time at Mach 1.1 and about forty-three thousand feet; one week later it hit Mach 1.4 at fifty-five thousand feet, the speed and altitude planned for community overflights. Built by Lockheed Martin $LMT Skunk Works for NASA's Quesst mission, its long, slender nose spreads out shock waves so people on the ground should hear a soft thump instead of a sharp boom, below the level of the old Concorde. NASA plans to share the ground-measured data with the FAA and international regulators, who could use it to lift the decades-old ban on supersonic flight over land.