NASA/Lockheed Martin X-59A Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST)

[fredymac]

It would be nice to take some of the R&D to prototype level but that would be a lot more expensive than CGI and RC models.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fdCoAuNyYg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfr6WDFN7d0

 

[TomS]

Can you think of any X-plane that was totally devoid of military interest? I shouldn't think so.

X-38 Crew Return Vehicle had no military involvement as far as I can see. Sure, there's a general military interest in spaceplane concepts, but that's true of almost any aeropace technology. The specifics of the X-38 concept and NASA's partnership with ESA and DLR probably removed any chance of a US military role in the program.

 

[bobbymike]

http://aviationweek.com/technology/nasa-aims-supersonic-airliners-quiet-subsonic?NL=AW-19&Issue=AW-19_20160809_AW-19_684&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&utm_rid=CPEN1000000230026&utm_campaign=6649&utm_medium=email&elq2=86e46e72905a4901a79c8cc144bb9149

 

[Flyaway]

NASA Aims For Supersonic Airliners As Quiet As Subsonic

After minimizing sonic boom, reducing airport noise is seen as the next biggest barrier to commercially viable future supersonic transports. As it works toward flying an X-plane in 2019 to demonstrate low-boom design technology, NASA is conducting ground tests of an engine nozzle that could make a small supersonic airliner as quiet as current subsonic transports. The model tests underway at NASA’s Glenn Research Center will validate design tools and concepts for an integrated ...

http://m.aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/nasa-aims-supersonic-airliners-quiet-subsonic

 

[bobbymike]

http://aviationweek.com/aircraft-design/nasa-studies-subsonic-x-plane-options-costs?NL=AW-19&Issue=AW-19_20160913_AW-19_469&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_2&utm_rid=CPEN1000000230026&utm_campaign=6992&utm_medium=email&elq2=c7a02e888b21405293576ee6583c89c2

 

[Grey Havoc]

http://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/711142/Faster-than-speed-sound-Nasa-radical-future-plan-for-planes-aurora-flight-sciences-mit

One of the models is a twin-hull plane called the ‘double bubble’ D8 and fast enough to break the sound barrier.

Aurora Flight Sciences teamed up with MIT researchers to develop the futuristic plane in 2008.

Nasa has finally granted £2.19million to bring one of the models to life.

Some salt may be required.

 

[sferrin]

http://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/711142/Faster-than-speed-sound-Nasa-radical-future-plan-for-planes-aurora-flight-sciences-mit

One of the models is a twin-hull plane called the ‘double bubble’ D8 and fast enough to break the sound barrier.

Aurora Flight Sciences teamed up with MIT researchers to develop the futuristic plane in 2008.

Nasa has finally granted £2.19million to bring one of the models to life.

Some salt may be required.

 

[TomS]

There isn't enough salt:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/the-double-bubble-d8-0

The D8 series aircraft would be used for domestic flights and is designed to fly at Mach 0.74 carrying 180 passengers 3,000 nautical miles in a coach cabin roomier than that of a Boeing 737-800.

Emphasis added.

 

[AeroFranz]

Some journalist wasn't paying attention and combined the D8 story with the Lockheed QUESST.

 

[TomS]

Some journalist wasn't paying attention and combined the D8 story with the Lockheed QUESST.

Or was confused because D8 was part of NASA's N+3 program, which also had a couple of supersonic concepts (one of which fed into QUESST, I think).

Here's a couple of stories that get more right:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/aurora-d8-nasa-spending-2-9m-revitalise-double-bubble-subsonic-twin-hull-planes-by-2027-1581718
http://newatlas.com/nasa-x-plane-aurora-d8/45415/

The noteworthy thing is that NASA is paying Aurora $2.9 million to continue development of the D8 for six months, to prepare it for possible selection as an X-plane candidate. Assuming that goes as planned, it sounds like they intend to go with a 1:2 scale flying demonstrator within 3 years. The second part isn't in the press releases but it is in a couple of news stories, so I'm guessing it came out in a conference call associated with the release. But it might be mangled -- they probably said something like "if D8 is selected as an X-Plane program, we would build a 1:2 scale demonstrator within three years" or some such.

 

[CammNut]

D8 is one of five concepts being evaluated as potential manned X-planes under the 10-year, 2017-23 New Aviation Horizons program. NASA wants to do more than one, sequentially - if it can get the funding, which is questionable. Scale for all of them will be somewhere between 30% and 40% as weight = cost and that is as small as you can go and still reliably extrapolate the flight-test data up to a full-size aircraft

 

[Flyaway]

Potential Mach 2.2 Airliner Market Pegged At $260 Billion

http://m.aviationweek.com/technology/potential-mach-22-airliner-market-pegged-260-billion

 

[Flyaway]

NASA Moves Closer To Quiet Supersonic Demo

http://aviationweek.com/space/nasa-moves-closer-quiet-supersonic-demo

 

[Flyaway]

NASA Wind Tunnel Tests Lockheed Martin’s X-Plane Design For A Quieter Supersonic Jet

http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2017/02/nasa-wind-tunnel-tests-lockheed-martins-x-plane-design-quieter-supersonic-jet

 

[Flyaway]

Lockheed and NASA move toward design review for supersonic X-plane

Lockheed Martin should complete a preliminary design review of its quiet supersonic X-plane by June and will move onto a critical design review with NASA, a Skunk Works programme lead says.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/lockheed-and-nasa-move-toward-design-review-for-sup-435437/

 

[Flyaway]

New NASA press release

The QueSST for Quiet

Can you imagine flying from New York to Los Angeles in half the time?

Think about it. Commercial flight over land in a supersonic jet would mean less time in-flight; less time in a cramped seat next to your new, and probably unwanted, best friend; fewer tiny bags of peanuts; and more time at your destination.

Couldn’t Concorde do that? Nope. Concorde, which last flew in 2003, utilized 1950s technology, was only supersonic over the ocean and was deemed too noisy to fly over people. It also burned a lot of fuel and was an expensive ticket. Approximately $15,000 for a round-trip seat in today’s dollars! That makes our wallets hurt.

QueSST experimental aircraft in the 8’ x 6’ wind tunnel
QueSST experimental aircraft in the 8’ x 6’ wind tunnel.
Credits: NASA
Ok, so just build a new Concorde with new technology that saves fuel. Well, it’s really not that easy. Since 1973, supersonic flight over land has been forbidden in the United States because of the noise from sonic boom. A new supersonic commercial airplane needs to beat the boom problem and be efficient as well.

That’s what NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology Project is trying to do. After years of work, we think we can bring something new to the table that produces acceptable in-flight noise to communities along flight paths. We are ready to prove it, and that is where the Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) experimental aircraft (X-plane) concept being developed by NASA and partner Lockheed Martin comes in.

Here’s the lowdown on the project:

Although the overall goal is improved quality of life for those on the ground and those in the air, the big step in the near term is to show we can beat the boom. To accomplish this, a unique X-plane, one that uses distinctive shaping – a long nose, highly swept wings, etc. – is being designed. This piloted X-plane will look to prove that sonic booms can be turned into sonic thumps, and eventually help make the case for updating the rule against supersonic flight over land.
What’s QueSST? QueSST is a preliminary design concept of that unique X-plane. It’s not an airliner. The design relies mostly on computer models to ensure all the pieces will come together for a future real airplane.
To verify the aerodynamic performance predictions of the fuselage shape, control surfaces and engine inlet the NASA-Lockheed team has built a scale model of the QueSST design for wind-tunnel testing. NASA Glenn Research Center’s 8’ X 6’ wind tunnel was selected for this testing because of its size and unique capability to test at a large range of speeds.
So, what’s next? NASA will review the test data and complete the preliminary design review. If data is positive and approval is obtained, then a contract for the design, fabrication and testing of a single-seat flight demonstration X-plane could be awarded. Flight testing could begin as early as 2021.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-quesst-for-quiet

 

[Flyaway]

NASA completes preliminary design review for supersonic X-plane

NASA will soon ask companies to bid for a contract to build a supersonic X-plane whose preliminary design review was completed on 23 June by Lockheed Martin.

It also will serve as a testbed for other technologies. Instead of a forward windscreen, the X-plane pilot will view the aircraft’s forward path from a ultra high-definition video produced by a camera installed in a fuselage-mounted fairing, says David Richwine, who managed the preliminary design project called the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST).

A newly-released rendering of Lockheed’s preliminary design reveals other features of the highly-swept, delta-wing jet. A row of eight vortex generators are arrayed over the top of the fuselage just aft of the cockpit and a set of moving forward canard surfaces.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/nasa-completes-preliminary-design-review-for-superso-438822/

 

[bobbymike]

http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/nasa-s-slower-x-plane-pace-could-have-impact-industry

 

[Flyaway]

More to the above.

NASA’s Slower X-Plane Pace Could Have An Impact On Industry

NASA remains committed to its goal of returning to X-plane flight demonstrators, but at a slower pace that has some in industry concerned about their priority and relevance.

When the agency unveiled its New Aviation Horizons initiative in 2016, it planned a sequence of X-plane programs initiated as frequently as 18 months apart. But NASA did not receive the significant boost in aeronautics funding it sought, and its fiscal 2018 budget request is lower still.

The $624 million sought in 2018 is sufficient to launch the first X-plane, the Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator planned to fly in 2021. But under current plans the first of a series of Ultra-Efficient Subsonic Technology (UEST) X-planes will not follow it into the skies before 2026.

The agency is taking a similar approach to the first subsonic X-plane, having begun with contracts to define system requirements for five different configurations. Under current plans, a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the “UEST1” X-plane is to be released in fiscal 2018, says Fay Collier, IASP associate director for flight strategy.

The final RFP is to follow in fiscal 2019, with the intent to competitively select two concepts to take through to preliminary design reviews. One configuration will then be selected for the X-plane. First flight is planned for fiscal 2026, but “we are looking at ways to bring that to the left a bit, somewhere between fiscal 2024 and 2026,” Collier says. A second “UEST2” X-plane would follow five years later.

The slowing of the X-plane initiative highlights a growing tension between the pace with which industry is evolving and the speed at which NASA can respond. The agency is looking at how it can support the emerging urban air mobility market, and the earliest it could have a dedicated program in place is fiscal 2021, says Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator for aeronautics. This contrasts with Uber’s ambitious plans for experimental flights in 2020 and commercial service by 2023.

http://m.aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/nasa-s-slower-x-plane-pace-could-have-impact-industry

 

[Flyaway]

Supersonic X-plane's unusual inlet performs well in wind tunnel

A series of wind tunnel tests revealed the unusual engine inlet positioning for NASA’s supersonic X-plane meets the performance goals for the Lockheed Martin-designed aircraft, a NASA Glenn Research Center aeronautics engineer says.

A series of wind tunnel tests revealed the unusual engine inlet positioning for NASA’s supersonic X-plane meets the performance goals for the Lockheed Martin-designed aircraft, a NASA Glenn Research Center aeronautics engineer says.

The quiet supersonic transport (QueSST) X-plane demonstrator will begin a series of flight tests in 2020 with an inlet placed atop the fuselage and behind the cockpit, a rare configuration for a supersonic aircraft not seen since early 1950s designs, such as the Douglas X-3 Stiletto and Convair F2Y Sea Dart.

The unusual engine placement is driven by the purpose of the QueSST demonstrator, explains Ray Castner, a NASA Glenn engineer, speaking at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on 25 July.

“Most supersonic aircraft have the engines near the front on the nose or underneath in the clean air flow,” Castner says. “We now have our engine up top and that’s for boom-shielding. That way, the disturbance from the engine goes up, and does not propagate down to the ground and contributes to boom signature.”

NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, performed 73h of testing of a model of the X-plane in the facililty’s 8ft X 6ft wind tunnel, the first such laboratory tests of such an engine inlet position for a supersonic aircraft of which the agency is aware.

The result satisfied NASA’s engineers that the X-plane’s unique inlet position will work.

“This inlet is actually more efficient than I thought it would be,” Castner says. “It was about 96-98% efficient, so that’s pretty good.”

Although the positioning was different, the nature of the NASA’s QueSST demonstration allowed Lockheed to use a relatively simple inlet design. NASA plans to have the aircraft take-off, make two passes over a city at Mach 1.4, then land. The design includes a diverterless bump to steer boundary layer airflow away from the inlet, but requires no moving pieces required for supersonic aircraft designed to cruise at higher speeds.

“It’s a [sonic] boom demonstrator. It’s not an inlet demonstrator. There is a higher performing inlet that we could have chosen, but a lot of those inlets have moveable parts,” Castner says.

NASA’s concerns about boundary layer flow over the top of the fuselage with the inlet’s placement drove other design decisions, he adds. After Lockheed completed the preliminary design, NASA released an image of the demonstrator with six vortex generators set between the cockpit canopy and the engine inlet. Lockheed placed the vortex generators there to energise the boundary layer flow and prevent the inlet from ingesting that relatively stagnant air, he says.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/supersonic-x-planes-unusual-inlet-performs-well-in-439849/

 

[Flyaway]

New Supersonic Technology Designed to Reduce Sonic Booms

Residents along Florida’s Space Coast will soon hear a familiar sound — sonic booms. But instead of announcing a spacecraft’s return from space, they may herald a new era in faster air travel.

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is partnering with the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, Langley Research Center in Virginia, and Space Florida for a program called Sonic Booms in Atmospheric Turbulence, or SonicBAT II. Starting in mid-August, NASA F-18 jets will take off from the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) and fly at supersonic speeds while agency researchers on the ground measure the effects of low-altitude turbulence on sonic booms.

According to John Graves of NASA Flight Operations in Kennedy’s Spaceport Integration and Services, for projects such as SonicBAT, NASA coordinates with Space Florida who manages the facility’s schedule.

“Working with representatives from the Armstrong center, we go through Space Florida to request use of the runway,” he said. “It’s an arrangement that works very well.”

The F-18 will begin flights on Aug. 21, flying two to four times a day over a period of ten days. But the actual test window may be two weeks to allow for weather and other possible delays.

Graves explains that SonicBAT is an unusual test in that it uses a typical military aircraft with its loud sonic boom to help engineers better understand the sounds from future quiet supersonic aircraft

“We’re hoping we can eventually lower sonic booms to a low rumble,” he said. “The goal is to eventually accommodate jets that can fly from New York to Los Angeles in two hours.”

Armstrong started SonicBAT investigations at Edwards Air Force Base last year. This will be the second round of tests.

“Edwards is a hot, dry environment,” he said. “The team at the Armstrong center wants to now try to collect similar data in the hot, humid climate we have here.”

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2017/08/02/supersonic-technology-designed-reduce-sonic-booms/

 

[Flyaway]

NASA Relearning Lost X-plane Skills With Low-Boom Demo

Preparations for NASA’s first purpose-designed, large-scale X-plane in decades are underway at its research centers across the U.S. as the agency moves toward selecting a company to build the eagerly awaited low-boom supersonic demonstrator.

Low-speed testing of the preliminary X-plane design produced by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is wrapping up at the 14 X 22-ft. wind tunnel here at NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia, while flight tests are refining the external vision system (XVS) the pilot will need to fly the unusual aircraft.

High-speed testing of the preliminary design review (PDR) configuration has been conducted in the 8 X 6-ft. supersonic tunnel at NASA Glenn Research Center in Ohio, where wind-tunnel tests to measure its reduced sonic boom are planned.

At NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, work is underway on preparing the single-seat, single-engine X-plane to be flown, first to expand the flight envelope at Edwards AFB, California, then to measure public response to low booms with flights over U.S. communities.

Proposals to build the Low-Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD) X-plane have been submitted, and NASA is in source selection. Only Lockheed and supersonic startup Spike Aerospace are known to have bid, and the number of proposals received has not been released.

Lockheed’s offering for NASA’s first manned supersonic X-plane since the thrust-vectoring X-31 in 1990 is based on the slender aircraft concept developed under a 17-month Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) preliminary design contract awarded in 2016 (AW&ST March 14-27, 2016, p. 21). NASA and Lockheed completed the PDR in June 2017, and the data generated was provided to potential bidders.

http://m.aviationweek.com/technology/nasa-relearning-lost-x-plane-skills-low-boom-demo

 

[Flyaway]

NASA has selected Lockheed Martin Skunk Works to build the quiet boom demonstrator.

Press Release.

https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2018-04-03-NASA-Selects-Lockheed-Martin-Skunk-Works-R-to-Build-X-Plane?_ga=2.248072455.12079722.1522787438-1851923502.1522787438

Flashy website.

https://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/QueSST.html

https://youtu.be/C3ESPCQgDok

 

[Flyaway]

Success With Low-Boom X-plane Critical To NASA’s Aeronautics Vision

We may not recall them all, but those we do remember hold special places in aviation history. The X-1 in which Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947. The X-15 in which Pete Knight reached Mach 6.7 in 1967. The X-43 that hit Mach 9.6 on scramjet power in 2004. They are the X-planes. Aviation afficionados will recall even more: the X-5 that pioneered variable wing sweep, the X-24 lifting bodies, forward-swept-wing X-29 and thrust-vectoring X-31—the international X-plane. Then ...

http://m.aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/success-low-boom-x-plane-critical-nasa-s-aeronautics-vision

 

[flateric]

https://www.nasa.gov/aero/nasa-experimental-supersonic-aircraft-x-59-quesst/

June 27, 2018
NASA’s Experimental Supersonic Aircraft Now Known as X-59 QueSST

NASA’s newest experimental aircraft, designed with quiet supersonic technology and intended to help open a new era in faster-than-sound air travel over land, will forever be known in the history books as the X-59 QueSST.
The U.S. Air Force, which is the government entity responsible for assigning X-number designations and the popular name associated with the aircraft, officially informed NASA of their decision on June 26.

“For everyone working on this important project, this is great news and we’re thrilled with the designation,” said Jaiwon Shin, NASA’s associate administrator for aeronautics.

“I’m confident that the contributions the X-59 QueSST will make to our nation and the world will ensure its place among the greatest NASA X-planes ever flown,” Shin said.

The X-plane number designation continues a tradition of naming important experimental aircraft and rockets that dates back to 1947 and the X-1, the rocket-powered airplane that Chuck Yeager flew to become the first human to fly faster than the speed of sound.

And while that famous X-1 was nicknamed the Glamourous Glennis, for Yeager’s wife, today’s X-59 takes its QueSST nickname from the quiet supersonic technology the aircraft will be equipped with.

Now under construction by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company at its famed Skunk Works plant in Palmdale, Calif., the X-59 QueSST is designed so that when flying supersonic, people on the ground will hear nothing more than a sonic thump – if anything at all.

Once fully tested and pronounced safe to fly within the National Airspace, the X-59 in late 2022 will begin making supersonic flights over select communities to measure residents’ reactions to any noise they might hear.

The scientifically valid data gathered from these community overflights will be presented to U.S. and international regulators, who will use the information to help them come up with rules based on noise levels that enable new commercial markets for supersonic flight over land.

Jim Banke
Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate

Last Updated: June 27, 2018

 

[sienar]

So whats X-58?

 

[Rhinocrates]

So whats X-58?

Wiki says that X-52 was skipped to avoid confusion with the B-52... so maybe this was skipped to avoid confusion with the B-58? Since we've skipped from B-2 to B-21, I wouldn't expect too much consistency now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_X-planes

 

[Stargazer]

Wiki says that X-52 was skipped to avoid confusion with the B-52...

If what Wiki says is true... then the DoD really considers people stupid: either they think we are capable of mixing up a 70 year old giant bomber produced in the dozens with a one-off 21st century test article, or they haven't skipped #52 at all and think we will actually buy such a story. Either way they are insulting our intelligence.
In the 1940s, there were Boeing PT-17 and Boeing B-17 types around (darn! there was even a Boeing XBT-17 at some point!) and I don't think anybody got confused, nor that it left a permanent trauma on anybody. This whole "skipped to avoid confusion" thing is just ridiculous on so many levels.

 

[TomS]

The USAF Nomenclature Office has been fighting a losing battle for proper use of designations for decades now. A skipped designation could reflect a hidden program, a reservation for a cancelled project that was never publicized or used, or just a mistake or whim by the program managers or leadership.

 

[sferrin]

The USAF Nomenclature Office has been fighting a losing battle for proper use of designations for decades now. A skipped designation could reflect a hidden program, a reservation for a cancelled project that was never publicized or used, or just a mistake or whim by the program managers or leadership.

*cough* F-35 *cough*

 

[Stargazer]

*cough* F-35 *cough*

*cough* B-21 *cough* *cough* *cough*

 

[sferrin]

Also the Seawolf class.

 

[sienar]

So whats X-58?

Wiki says that X-52 was skipped to avoid confusion with the B-52... so maybe this was skipped to avoid confusion with the B-58? Since we've skipped from B-2 to B-21, I wouldn't expect too much consistency now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_X-planes

That somewhat understandable given that the B-52 is still in service, but the B-58 hasnt been for nearly 50 years.

 

[TomS]

Also the Seawolf class.

And DDG-1000. And LCS. And frankly pretty much every new fast transport ship type the USN has rolled out for the last 15 years or so (HSV, EPF, TSV, HST, etc.)

 

[fightingirish]

So whats X-58?

IMHO it is the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie for the AFRL Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator (LCASD) program, formally known as AFRL Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology (LCAAT) program.
Sources:
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/afrl-sets-first-flight-date-for-xq-58a-450091/
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,27189.0/all.html

 

[Flyaway]

NASA Prepares for Future of Supersonic Experimental Flight

https://youtu.be/zdRVhzbRrig

 

[Flyaway]

Lockheed Martin starts work on X-59 Quiet Supersonic aircraft

Lockheed Martin began milling the first part for its X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology test aircraft at its facility in Palmdale, California, after being selected earlier this year by NASA to design, build and flight test a Low Boom Flight Demonstrator.

 

[Flyaway]

A Look Inside the X-59 QueSST Cockpit

The pilot of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology, or QueSST, aircraft will navigate the skies in a cockpit unlike any other. There won’t be a forward-facing window. That’s right; it’s actually a 4K monitor that serves as the central window and allows the pilot to safely see traffic in his or her flight path, and provides additional visual aids for airport approaches, landings and takeoffs. The 4K monitor, which is part of the aircraft’s eXternal Visibility System, or XVS, displays stitched images from two cameras outside the aircraft combined with terrain data from an advanced computing system. The two portals and traditional canopy are real windows however, and help the pilot see the horizon. The displays below the XVS will provide a variety of aircraft systems and trajectory data for the pilot to safely fly.

The XVS is one of several innovative solutions to help ensure the X-59’s design shape reduces a sonic boom to a gentle thump heard by people on the ground. Though not intended to ever carry passengers, the X-59 boom-suppressing technology and community response data could help lift current bans on supersonic flight over land and enable a new generation of quiet supersonic commercial aircraft. Click here to learn more.

 

[Flyaway]

Lockheed Martin unveils plans for quiet supersonic passenger airplane

It's still at the conceptual stage, but a new supersonic airplane design unveiled this week by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics could be the clearest indication yet that we're on the brink of a new golden age of super-fast air travel.

The Quiet Supersonic Technology Airliner, a sleek twin-engined jet plane that will carry up to 40 passengers at speeds of Mach 1.8, was revealed on Wednesday at an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference in Dallas.

 

[blackkite]

Hi!

X-59 Research Aircraft

A “four-view” of the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology Demonstrator

www.nasa.gov