NASA's New X-59 Supersonic Jet Advances Towards First Flight

TapTechNews May 31st, NASA announced that its new X-59 supersonic jet has successfully completed a milestone safety review, marking a crucial step towards its first flight.

Meanwhile, the team is preparing for further ground tests, focusing on the operation of the system-integrated engine and the impact of electromagnetic interference on the aircraft.

This is not a pass/fail issue, Cathy Bahm, the project manager for NASA's Low-Boom Flight Demonstration, said in a statement from the aerospace agency. We will listen to the committee's advice and work with them to address these issues and strive for airworthiness and flight safety reviews.

Because of the destructive sonic boom that occurs when exceeding the speed of sound, commercial supersonic aircraft land flights have been banned for more than 50 years. The X-59 is a key component of NASA's Quesst mission, which aims to reduce the sonic boom associated with supersonic aircraft.

The X-59 is jointly developed by NASA and Lockheed Martin, and its shape is inspired by birds, with the length of the nose accounting for 1/3 of the entire fuselage. According to TapTechNews, the X-59 is more than 30 feet (about 9.1 meters) long, and the length of the nose is about 11.5 feet (about 3.5 meters), which can reduce the sonic boom noise to 75 decibels.

In addition to aircraft design, the X-59 also combines new technologies with systems and components of several existing aircraft, such as the landing gear of the F-16 and the life support system modified from the F-15.