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Quesst: The Science

NASA’s heritage of studying supersonic flight reaches back more than 70 years. That accumulated knowledge, especially as it relates to understanding sonic booms and how to make them quieter, is at the heart of the Quesst mission. It has taken years of hard work and the latest in wind-tunnel testing, advanced computer simulation tools, and actual flight testing to reach this point where it’s time to prove the theory in the air with a large-scale supersonic X-plane.

NASA is using a 21st century version of schlieren imagery  to visualize supersonic flow.

Quesst: The Science News

Stay up-to-date with the latest content related to the science from the Quesst mission.

NASA Grants to Engage Students in Quiet Supersonic Community Overflight
2 min read

NASA has issued new grants to five universities to help develop education plans for the community overflight phase of the…

News Release
NASA Invites You to X-59 Rollout Watch Party
2 min read

It’s almost time for NASA’s supersonic X-59 airplane to make its red, white, and blue public debut, and you’re invited…

Article
NASA Test Piloting Legends Reunite
1 min read

Nils Larson, aerospace engineer and test pilot for NASA’s X-59 aircraft, met up with his former student, Artemis II astronaut…

Image Article
NASA’s Quesst: Reassessing a 50-Year Supersonic Speed Limit
7 min read

NASA will deliver the results to U.S. and international regulators, who will consider new rules that would lift the ban…

Article
Supercomputers Aid Quesst Researchers in Predicting X-59’s Sound
1 min read

Before the X-59 flies, NASA researchers are getting ahead of the curve by using computational fluid dynamics to create what…

Image Article
NASA Armstrong Advances Shock Wave Photography
4 min read

Sound never looked so good! Using a special handheld camera, researchers at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California,…

Article
X-59 Resembles Actual Aircraft
6 min read

A heavy chorus of bolting and machinery filled the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology, or QueSST, assembly building as engineers, system…

Article
Aeronautical Artwork, Computer Simulation, or Both?
2 min read

Although it may look like an abstract piece of aeronautical artwork that could hang as a painting over an enthusiastic…

Image Article
NASA Marks Continued Progress on X-59
6 min read

Assembly of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology aircraft is continuing during 2020 and making good progress, despite challenges such as…

Article