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NASA Quesst

NASA's Quesst mission, which features the one-of-a-kind X-59 aircraft, will demonstrate technology to fly supersonic, or faster than the speed of sound, without generating loud sonic booms. NASA will then survey how people respond when the X-59 flies overhead, sharing these reactions to the quieter sonic "thumps" with national and international regulators to inform the establishment of new data-driven acceptable noise thresholds related to supersonic commercial flight over land. Quesst is supported through NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

  • NASA’s Mike Lippert Takes Controls of X-59 for First Time 

    NASA test pilot Mike Lippert, wearing a tan flight suit and harness, inspects the X-59 as team members work nearby.

    Editor’s note: This story was edited on Oct. 26, 2026, to correct the number of years Mike Lippert has been flying. NASA test pilot Mike Lippert put months of simulator training and ground preparation into practice, completing his first flight in the agency’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft. Lippert took off Oct. 21 from NASA’s […]

  • Diving into Maintenance with NASA’s X-59

    Technician diving into the X-59 Duct

    In the California desert, as NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 paused between its 11th and 12th flights, mechanic Jonathan Reynaga climbed a ladder to the top of the aircraft. Reynaga strode down the plane’s wing until he reached the distinctive air inlet that leads to its engine and stuck his head in. And then he dove […]

  • NASA X-59 Pilot Receives Top Test Pilot Award

    Nils Larson holding his Iven C. Kincheloe Award while standing in front of the X-59 aircraft.

    NASA test pilot Nils Larson recently received a top honor from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots for making the first flight of NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft and helping to make its first flight in 2025.  Larson received the society’s Iven C. Kincheloe Award for leading the X‑59 through its first flight and safely expanding the flight envelope to […]

  • NASA’s X-59 Completes Record Six Flights in One Week

    A screen capture from the X-59’s eXternal Vision System displays flight information showing the aircraft traveling at Mach 1.53.

    NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft had its busiest week yet, setting its record for flights completed in a single week while continuing to demonstrate its ability to maneuver at a range of speeds and altitudes.  The X-59 kicked off last week by flying twice on Sept. 22, followed by two-flight days Sept. 24 and 25 for a total of six flights. The run of flights beat the X-59’s previous […]

  • NASA’s New X-59 Test Pilot Gets Behind Controls for Ground Test

    A man seated inside an aircraft cockpit adjusts a helmet, with the open canopy above him.

    This summer, NASA test pilot Mike Lippert powered up the X‑59 cockpit for the first time, running the aircraft’s engines on the ground during a key step in his months of preparation and training to fly the experimental aircraft.  “Getting into the cockpit of the X‑59 felt very comfortable,” said Lippert, the newest X-59 test pilot for […]

  • NASA’s X-59 Aircraft Builds Momentum Through 25th Flight

    NASA’s white and blue X-59 quiet supersonic experimental aircraft flies above mountainous terrain in the Mojave Desert. The aircraft is shown from the side with its long nose extending toward the left.

    After 25 test flights, NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic experimental aircraft steadily continues to pass performance marks set by its team. This successful run of tests has the aircraft on a path toward a new phase later this year, where NASA will evaluate the sonic thumps the X-59 is designed to make when flying faster than […]

  • NASA X-59 Explainer: Science of Sonic Booms 

    The most common misconception about sonic booms is that they’re just the sound created at the moment when an aircraft “breaks the sound barrier.” In reality, a sonic boom is continuous, the audible evidence of invisible pressure waves forming as an aircraft travels faster than sound. As these waves travel toward the ground, they can merge, creating an explosive […]

  • Meet NASA’s New X-59 Test Pilot 

    NASA’s X-59 test pilot Mike Lippert stands in a hangar in front of NASA’s quiet supersonic research aircraft, wearing a tan NASA flight suit and holding a flight helmet under the right arm. The X-plane in the background displays the NASA logo, tail number 859, and “X-59” marking.

    NASA added a new X-59 test pilot to support the agency’s Quesst mission: Mike Lippert, a research test pilot based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. “This fulfills a lifelong dream of conducting airborne research and experimental flight test for NASA in the high desert — contributing to humankind’s understanding of the science […]

  • What’s a Chase Plane and Why Does the X-59 Have One?

    The X-59 and it's chase plane in flight with a photo of Nils Larson and the text The chase plane acts as an extra set of eyes.

    You may have noticed that NASA’s X-59 has a shadow— another aircraft trailing it from a safe distance. That sidekick is known as a “chase plane,” and it has an important role in NASA’s Quesst mission. Chase planes are commonly used during the flight testing of major experimental aircraft, providing an extra layer of observation […]

  • Customize Your Devices With NASA’s New X-59 Digital Backgrounds

    A hand holding up a cellular phone with the X-59 as the wallpaper background.

    In celebration of the X-59’s recent supersonic milestone flights, NASA’s Quesst mission invites you to refresh your phone wallpaper and virtual meeting background with images of this unique aircraft in action.   NASA is releasing multiple images sized to fit your device screens. Your next video call can boast NASA’s X-59 in flight, on the ground – or even from the cockpit.   Chosen from the X-59’s first series flights where the plane expanded its […]