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.
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 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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
NASA’s X-59 experimental aircraft reached a major milestone Friday, June 12, flying Mach 1.4 (about 924 mph) and an altitude of 55,000 feet, the conditions required for the aircraft to make future flights critical to its mission. The X-59 still has months of performance testing ahead, but after those are complete, NASA’s Quesst mission will fly the […]
