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2h ago

NASA’s X-59 Breaks the Sound Barrier in First Supersonic Flight

The flight advances tests intended to show that redesigned airframe geometry can turn a sonic boom into a much quieter “thump,” providing data regulators need to consider allowing supersonic flights over land.

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Overview

  • The X-59 reached about Mach 1.1 (roughly 713 mph) at about 43,400 feet during an 81-minute test flight flown by NASA pilot Jim “Clue” Less on Friday, June 5.
  • NASA plans follow-up mission-condition flights in the coming days to push the jet to Mach 1.4 at roughly 55,000 feet and later to envelope-expansion targets near Mach 1.6 at higher altitudes.
  • A NASA F‑15 chase plane monitored the supersonic sortie, but its own sonic booms obscured any sound from the X-59, so dedicated sound-profile tests and later community overland flights remain needed to measure the aircraft’s noise on the ground.
  • The X-59 was built by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works under NASA’s Quesst program and uses an elongated nose and top-mounted engine shielding, plus an eXternal Vision System in place of forward windows, to shape shock waves into a quieter signature.
  • If later tests confirm a quiet “thump,” NASA will collect public perception data during overland flights and share results with U.S. and international regulators to help set noise standards that could reopen overland commercial supersonic routes.