NASA One Step Closer to Making Commercial Supersonic Flight Over Land Possible
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NASA released a series of images with an update on its experimental X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (Quesst) aircraft. The three images showed the aircraft sitting between the runway and the hanger at Lockheed Martin's facility in Palmdale, California. NASA said the X-59’s movement from its construction site to the flight line marks another milestone in preparing the aircraft for its first flight.
The next step will include significant ground tests that certify the X-59 is safe to fly. The X-59 is designed to ease the loud sonic boom to a “sonic thump” while flying supersonic and serves as the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. The mission seeks to collect data that could make commercial supersonic flight over land possible, a development that would significantly reduce travel time. However, FAA regulations currently prohibit anyone from flying a civil aircraft at supersonic speeds over land due to noise levels.
NASA plans to fly the X-59 over multiple communities and analyze how humans respond to the sound generated by flying at supersonic speeds. The agency will then send the data to international and U.S. regulators. According to Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the X-59 on behalf of NASA, the aircraft can cruise at 55,000 feet at Mach 1.4, or 925 miles per hour, and emits sound comparable to a car door closing.
Commercial aircraft moving at such speeds could travel between New York City and Los Angeles in about 2 hours and 30 minutes.
