Before NASA’s new X-59 supersonic jet can break the sound barrier, scientists had to record equivalent sonic booms to use for reference. Test pilots with NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center took to the skies high above the Southern California desert near the U.S. Air Force’s Edwards Air Force Base in order to generate “thumps” the […]
The X-59 is finally here. As NASA’s newest X-plane, the X-59 is designed to break the sound barrier without the thunderous sonic booms that typically occur when aircraft go supersonic. Instead, the Quesst will make a much quieter “thump,” similar to the sound of a car door slamming as heard from indoors. If successful, the […]
NASA and Lockheed Martin have finally taken the wraps off of the X-59, a “quiet supersonic” aircraft that may shape the future of both military and civilian air travel. The X-59 has been under development at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works for years, following a $248 million grant from NASA in 2018. That was just the […]
NASA and Lockheed Martin are finally ready to unveil the new X-59 Quesst, a supersonic jet designed to break the sound barrier without creating a thunderous sonic boom. The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (Quesst) jet has been under construction at Lockheed Martin’s “Skunk Works” facility in Palmdale, California since 2019. The experimental X-59 Quesst is […]