NASA and Lockheed Martin’s coveted Skunk Works division have teamed up to develop the X-59 QueSST – an X-plane that will employ low-boom technology, designed to replace the famous sonic boom with a quiet thump.
The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) – NASA’s first manned supersonic X-plane in decades – is a one-off single-seat demonstrator that has been specifically-designed to undertake the administration’s Low-Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD) mission. The LBFD has some unique and exciting goals: to prove that sounds generated from supersonic flight can be made quiet enough to allow regulators to change the rules surrounding overland supersonic flight.
NASA will use the X-59 to prove its low-boom theory, which, if successful, could open the door to a new generation of supersonic-capable commercial aircraft that are able to fly faster than sound overland – something that the famed Concorde could never do.
The commercial sector has been keen to revive supersonic air travel capabilities that were lost following Concorde’s retirement in 2003. The rules that limited Concorde’s high-speed capabilities were arguably one of the biggest factors in its downfall. The Anglo-French-designed aircraft has so far been the most success…
