Business · Engadget
NASA's X-59 reaches speed and altitude milestones ahead of first quiet supersonic flights
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The plane will soon be ready to fly over US communities.
Key facts
- In a test flight on Friday, the X-59 flew Mach 1.4, or about 924 mph, and reached an altitude of 55,000 feet
- The X-59 is designed to fly at supersonic speeds without producing a loud sonic boom; instead, it'll make a "quiet sonic thump," according to NASA
- The Quesst mission, which is still months away, will see the X-59 fly over populated areas so NASA can get feedback from the public on what the sonic thump sounded like to listeners on the ground
- NASA's X-59 research plane took its first supersonic flight at the beginning of the month, and now it's demonstrated that it can reach the speed and altitude conditions it'll need to achieve
Summary
NASA's X-59 research plane took its first supersonic flight at the beginning of the month, and now it's demonstrated that it can reach the speed and altitude conditions it'll need to achieve for planned trips over US communities soon. In a test flight on Friday, the X-59 flew Mach 1.4, or about 924 mph, and reached an altitude of 55,000 feet. The space agency says this latest test "was an even more critical step" than the one that preceded it, as it hit key targets that it'll replicate during its Quesst mission.