NASA’s experimental X-59 quiet supersonic jet has reportedly completed a major cross-country journey flying from California to Florida.
On October 28, marking a year since its first flight, NASA’s X-59 left Edwards Air Force Base for the Kennedy Space Center, breaking the journey in Texas.
The jet built by Lockheed Martin has completed over 40 test flights, reaching Mach 1.53 while emitting only a quiet 75-decibel “sonic thump” courtesy of a revolutionary aerodynamic profile that suppresses explosive sonic booms.
However, part of the Quesst mission seeks to gather noise data from flyovers to potentially lift the 1973 ban on supersonic flights over land.
The low-boom demonstration seeks to replace the conventional sonic boom with a quieter thump, potentially clearing the path for commercial supersonic flight over land. It is designed to cruise at Mach 1.4 at 55,000 feet and to produce a soft sonic thump of about 75 decibels. It has a very long nose that shapes the shockwaves and because it has no front windshield, the pilot sees ahead through a camera-based vision system.
The X-59 surpassed the speed of sound on June 5, and has flown more than 40 times. Furthermore, NASA will monitor the actual noise on the ground and fly over communities to analyze the public reaction.
