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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.

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Hangar Sweet Home for NASA’s X-59

A blue and white supersonic jet with red trim sits inside a newly renovated hangar.
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits inside Hangar 4826 at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Nov. 18, 2025. The aircraft is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which aims to demonstrate quiet supersonic flight and reduce the disruptive sonic boom to a quieter sonic thump.
NASA/Christopher LC Clark

From the beginning of NASA’s work to bring its quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft from the drawing board into reality, the agency’s team knew they also needed to make a home for it. But at nearly 100 feet long and 30 feet wide, not just any hangar would do.

So, while the experimental aircraft was being built at contractor Lockheed Martin Skunk Works’ facility in Palmdale, California, another team got to work at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in nearby Edwards, California. NASA has posted a new account of how the team fully renovated and modernized a hangar built in 1968 to hold an aircraft that made its first flight in 2025.

Read on to find out what it was like for the team when the aircraft finally arrived.

A white and blue jet airplane is parked in front of a building with large sliding doors and a NASA logo centered on the forward wall. The building is the new X-59 hangar.
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits outside Hangar 4826 at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Nov. 19, 2025. The aircraft’s underwent a maintenance period inside the hangar following its historic first flight in October 2025.
NASA/Christopher LC Clark
AERONAUTICS RESEARCH MISSION

Quesst

Quesst is the name of NASA Aeronautics' mission to help take the first step toward enabling commercial, faster-than-sound air travel over land. The centerpiece of the mission is NASA's X-59 research aircraft. The experimental supersonic jet is designed with technology that reduces the loudness of a sonic boom to a gentle thump. NASA will fly the X-59 over select U.S. communities and take surveys to record what people think of the quieter sonic thumps. The human response data will be delivered to U.S. and international regulators, who will consider setting new rules that allow supersonic flight over land.

Stay up to date at the Quesst mission page
NASA’s X-59 is seen in flight, with a blue sky and mountains behind it and land below it. The aircraft’s long nose and distinct silhouette are visible as it ferries to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California 
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft cruises above Palmdale and Edwards, California, during its first flight, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. The aircraft safely landed at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
NASA/Lori Losey

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