NASA's Supersonic X-59 Readying For Structural Testing

Experimental aircraft is expected to be shipped to Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas by year's end.

Mark Spoor

Tuesday, November 30, 2021 at 07:07 PM ET

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The aircraft will undergo ground testing to ensure it can hold up to flight loads and stresses. Credit: NASA

Key Takeaways:

NASA's X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft is being transported for structural testing in Texas ahead of its anticipated first flight next year.
The aircraft is uniquely designed to reduce the loud sonic boom of supersonic flight to a "quiet sonic thump" through its distinctive shape.
The project aims to collect data on low-boom flight and public reaction to inform new regulations, potentially enabling future commercial supersonic flight over land, which has been banned since 1973.

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NASA’s low-boom supersonic experimental aircraft will soon be transported from the production floor at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company’s Skunk Works factory in Palmdale, California, to Texas for structural testing.

The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) experimental aircraft is part of a NASA’s Low Boom Flight Demonstration project aimed at collecting data to help shape regulations for possible future commercial supersonic flight over land.