X-59 Quesst: NASA, Lockheed Martin Debut Supersonic Low-boom Aircraft

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and other senior officials revealed the X-59 Quesst during a ceremony Friday, hosted by prime contractor Lockheed Martin Skunk Works at its Palmdale, California facility. The experimental aircraft is designed to fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound, or 1,489 kilometers per hour(kmph), while generating a quieter sonic thump(similar to the sound of a car door slamming as heard from indoors), thus breaking the sound barrier without the thunderous sonic booms that occur when aircraft go supersonic.

At about 30 meters long and 9 meters wide, the X-59’s thin, tapered nose accounts for almost a third of its length and will break up the shock waves that would ordinarily result in a supersonic aircraft causing a sonic boom. Due to this configuration, the cockpit is located almost halfway down the length of the single-seat experimental aircraft -- and it does not have a forward-facing window. Instead there's an eXternal Vision System, a series of high-resolution cameras feeding a 4K monitor in the cockpit.

The aircraft is also designed with its engine mounted on top, giving it a smooth underside to help keep shockwaves from merging behind the aircraft and causing a sonic boom.

“This is a major accomplishment made possible only through the hard work and ingenuity from NASA and the entire X-59 team,” Melroy said. “In just a few short years we’ve gone from an ambitious concept to reality. NASA’s X-59 will help change the way we travel, bringing us closer together in much less time.”

The aircraft is at the center of NASA’s Quesst(Quiet Supersonic Technology or QueSST) mission, which focuses on providing data to help regulators reconsider rules that prohibit commercial supersonic flight over land. For 50 years, the U.S. and other nations have prohibited such flights because of the disturbance caused by loud sonic booms. Preliminary Quesst designs started in February 2016.

With upcoming test flights later this year, NASA aims to gather data that could revolutionize air travel, paving the way for a new generation of commercial aircraft that can travel faster than the speed of sound.

The Quesst team will conduct several of the aircraft’s flight tests at Skunk Works before transferring it to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, which will serve as its base of operations.

“Across both teams, talented, dedicated, and passionate scientists, engineers, and production artisans have collaborated to develop and produce this aircraft,” said John Clark, vice president and general manager at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. “We’re honored to be a part of this journey to shape the future of supersonic travel over land alongside NASA and our suppliers.”

Once NASA completes flight tests, X-59 is scheduled to fly over several cities across the U.S., collecting input from local communities about the sound generated by the aircraft. The agency will then provide that data to the Federal Aviation Administration and international regulators.

WATCH the Quest team members describe the design of the X-59 Quesst at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works facility in California