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.
As NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic jet takes to the air, its sleek configuration is now on display thanks to a key milestone it reached in April – flying wheels-up. The transition marks an important step in the aircraft’s testing. Experimental aircraft typically make their earliest test flights with the landing gear down, then begin retracting […]
