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Cyrano just got a new ride:
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Lockheed Martin unveils prototype of its promising supersonic plane
U.S. arms maker Lockheed Martin Corp has released a photo of the first prototype of its supersonic X-plane, the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST), during the beginning of the final assembly process. The company says the aircraft is developing by the legendary Lockheed Martin Skunk Works...defence-blog.com
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Ames' Contributions to the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology Aircraft
Mar 21, 2022
A faster-than-sound airplane generates sonic thumps so quiet that people on the ground might not hear anything at all.
Not much has changed in commercial aircraft design and technology for the last 50 years. That's about to … well … change thanks to efforts to design future commercial aircraft capable of hushing sonic booms to a mere thump as they fly faster than the speed of sound.
Supersonic travel is as cool as it sounds. Imagine flying aboard an aircraft cruising faster than the speed of sound, cutting your coast-to-coast travel time in half. Currently such a thing only exists in the dreams of aircraft designers. And while no passenger will ride aboard NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology, or QueSST, the experimental aircraft is bringing the agency ever closer to making the quiet commercial supersonic travel over land a reality.
NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley has decades of experience researching supersonic flight, including numerous efforts under the Commercial Supersonic Technology project, or CST – a lot of which has gone into the unique design of the X-59. These efforts cover several areas related to supersonic research, including the use of cutting-edge visualization technology to study shockwaves, and use of unique wind tunnels, supercomputing facilities, and systems engineering expertise. These are but a few of the many areas of research into realizing the goal of CST and of the X-59 QueSST, which includes the eventual demonstration of quiet supersonic flight over land.
Computational Fluid Dynamics
This image captures a moment from a computational fluid dynamics simulation of the X-59 aircraft concept during supersonic flight. Visualizations like this help researchers determine which surface features of the aircraft are generating shockwaves, which contribute to the sonic boom noise below the aircraft. The colors shown on the aircraft indicate surface pressure, with lower pressures in blue and higher pressures in red. The colors shown in the airspace surrounding the aircraft indicate airflow velocity, ranging from blue, indicating zero velocity to higher velocities in red. All X-59 simulations completed by the team at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley have been performed on the Pleiades supercomputer at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility.
Credits: NASA/James C. Jensen
As Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, finalized the X-59 airplane’s design, they ran their ideas using an Ames-developed high-resolution, 3D simulation software on multiple supercomputers at Ames – the Pleiades, Electra, and Endeavour. Recent improvements in the software have enabled engineers to get simulation data about the flight characteristics and noise levels even faster – sometimes five times as fast.
With no X-59 flight data – yet – computer simulation is the next best thing to build confidence in the predictions for its supersonic performance. Teams at Ames and NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, worked together to ensure that multiple software codes would make similar predictions about how loud the X-59 will be in different environments. For example, they know the boom's loudness changes based on the cloud cover and humidity of the areas below a flight path, and can give the pilot information in the cockpit that can help guide the aircraft to areas where the boom may be quieter. Computational fluid dynamics simulations also create visualizations of the X-59 aircraft concept and help researchers determine which features of the aircraft generate shockwaves that contribute to the sonic thump sound below the aircraft.
NASA is working closely with Lockheed Martin to create a large database of computational fluid dynamics simulations to verify the aircraft’s supersonic performance. The database includes simulations for all possible combinations of settings that a pilot uses to control the aircraft and the flight conditions that may be encountered. This database is crucial for supplying data for a flight-planning tool that is being used to assist and teach pilots how to fly the X-59, before it even flies. From there, researchers can determine the best flight conditions to reduce noise when they begin piloted test flights over select U.S. cities. These flights also will provide opportunities to collect, verify, and validate data about community responses. NASA will share the data with U.S. and international regulators which will use it when considering new sound-based rules for supersonic flight over land. New rules could enable new commercial cargo and passenger markets in faster-than-sound air travel.
Wind Tunnel Testing
Don Durston, an aerospace engineer with a model supersonic aircraft, ready for testing in the 9- by 7-foot Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley.
Credits: NASA/Dominic Hart
Some researchers think of computational fluid dynamics as a virtual wind tunnel test. Luckily, Ames has run thousands of hours of supersonic tests using actual wind tunnels since the 1950s. The 9- by 7-foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel facility is part of the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel complex at Ames where generations of commercial and military aircraft and NASA space vehicles, including the space shuttle, have been designed and tested.
One way to make sure the X-59 will work as intended is to “fly" smaller versions of the real thing in a wind tunnel. While supersonic air flows over precisely crafted small models, engineers can take measurements of the pressure waves and be sure the plane behaves as expected. Some models measured as little as five inches long, while others stretched to more than six feet in length.
But even in the 21st century, with all our technical know-how, measuring supersonic airflow over an airplane model in a wind tunnel is an uncertain process. Even running the same test with the same model can produce slightly different results on different days because the airflows in the tunnels are not perfect. Put the model in another wind tunnel and you’ll get a slightly different version of the data.
This is why Ames continues to contribute its expertise to wind tunnel operations in support of the X-59. Ames contracted a model-building company, Tri Models, Inc. of Huntington Beach, California, to design and fabricate a small 19"-long model of the X-59 for sonic boom wind tunnel testing. The first test of this model took place in 2021, in NASA's Glenn Research Center's 8- by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel in Cleveland. The second test will take place in 2022 in the supersonic wind tunnels at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, under a recently-announced collaboration, which will allow researchers to compare results from tests of the same small-scale model
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New Name, Same Great Supersonic Mission
New Name, Same Great Supersonic Mission
Introducing Quesst.
Evoking the experimental nature of flight testing and the spirit of aeronautical exploration, Quesst is what NASA is calling its mission to enable supersonic air travel over land. This new moniker – complete with an extra "s" to represent “supersonic” – draws its inspiration from NASA’s long legacy of supersonic flight research.
The mission’s centerpiece is the sleek research plane known as the X-59, which Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is currently building in Palmdale, California.
Quesst replaces the mission’s original name: the Low-Boom Flight Demonstration.
“With Quesst, we’ve found a name that more effectively conveys the purpose, relevance, and – most importantly – excitement of what this mission is all about,” said Peter Coen, NASA’s mission integration manager for Quesst.
Through Quesst, NASA plans to demonstrate that the X-59 can fly faster than sound without generating the loud sonic booms supersonic aircraft typically produce. This thunderous sound is the reason the U.S. and other governments banned most supersonic flight over land.
Working with select communities, NASA will fly the X-59 to learn how people react to the diminished sonic “thump” it produces – if they hear anything at all. The agency will share survey data with regulators, with the hope they will consider writing new rules that lift the ban.
Quesst’s New Look
With the introduction of Quesst comes a new mission identity — a blue and green signature mark that represents the elements of Quesst.
The new mission graphic displays stylized supersonic shockwaves encircling the research aircraft, above a community of homes. The imagery highlights the ground-breaking research that will be conducted across several U.S. cities during this mission.
Inspiration for the design comes from images captured during NASA’s 2019 Air-to-Air Background Oriented Schlieren (AirBOS) flight series, which recorded images of intersecting shockwaves from supersonic jets.
Here’s a breakdown of the design and its color palette:
- The supersonic shockwaves, represented here in green, do not merge. This is what enables the X-59 to produce a quieter sonic thump.
- The aircraft shape represents the X-59. While previously known as the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology, the aircraft will now just be referred to as the X-59.
- The three houses represent the communities that will provide the data that could allow for future commercial supersonic flight over land.
- The crescent represents land, highlighting the crucial and unique aspect of our mission – commercial supersonic flight over land.
- Overall, the blue and green symbolize the Earth, and where the value of NASA’s aeronautics research is experienced by humankind every day.
The Quesst Plan
To achieve its mission goals, NASA has laid out Quesst in three phases. The first and current phase focuses on the assembly of the X-59, followed by initial flights planned for later this year to prove the safety and performance of the aircraft.
The second phase, expected to take place during 2023, will focus on acoustic validation. During this phase, the mission will prove the X-59 is ready for regular operations in the National Airspace System. The aircraft will fly over NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California to demonstrate that the supersonic technologies work as designed. The flights will also show that the tools used to predict and measure the sound level of the sonic thump are ready for use in phase three.
Likely the most anticipated point in the mission, phase three will feature the X-59 flying over several communities across the U.S., gathering data from the public to learn what people think of the X-59’s sound. This phase is expected to take place in 2024 through 2026. NASA has yet to select the communities.
The mission is set to wrap up in 2027 by taking the information collected during phase three and sharing it with U.S. and international regulators. With the information gathered during the Quesst mission, the hope is to enable regulators to consider rules based on how loud an aircraft is, not based on an arbitrary speed.
“The Quesst mission has the potential to transform air travel as we currently know it,” Coen said. “Success of this mission will open the door to fast air travel for everyone across the globe.”
Learn more about the advances in this transformational mission.
Quesst — the mission where speed never sounded so quiet.
Jim Banke
Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
Kristen Hatfield
NASA Langley Research Center
Low-Speed Wind Tunnel Test Provides Important Data
A model of the X-59 forebody is shown in the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works’ wind tunnel in Palmdale, California, in February of 2022.
Credits: Lockheed Martin
NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft can take to the skies, plenty of testing needs to happen to ensure a safe first flight. One part of this safety check is to analyze data collected for the X-59’s flight control system through low-speed wind tunnel tests.
The X-59 is central to NASA’s Quesst mission to expand supersonic flight and provide regulators with data to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land. The aircraft is designed to produce a gentle thump instead of a sonic boom.
Recently, Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, completed low-speed wind tunnel tests of a scale model of the X-59’s forebody. The tests provided measurements of how wind flows around the aircraft nose and confirmed computer predictions made using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software tools. The data will be fed into the aircraft flight control system and will allow the pilot to know the altitude, speed and angle that the aircraft is flying at in the sky.
“These tests help with developing the flight control system,” said Jeff Flamm, NASA's aerodynamics and performance lead on Quesst. “This flight data is obtained from many instruments on the aircraft including air data probes, GPS and engine instrumentation. These wind tunnel tests allow us to verify our CFD predictions, which let us know our flight control system is safe to fly.”
The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works low-speed wind tunnel produces air moving at the same speed that the real, full-scale X-59 will experience during takeoff and landing. However, most wind tunnels are too small to fit the nearly 100-foot-long aircraft. Therefore, it was more practical for Lockheed-Martin to build an 11.5% scale model of the X-59’s forebody to simulate the airflow around the plane’s nose.
A technician works on the X-59 model during testing in the low-speed wind tunnel, in February of 2022.
Credits: Lockheed Martin
Engineers placed small wind vanes on the X-59 model to measure the angle of the wind at the precise location of the air data instruments on the full-scale aircraft. The testing compared the data collected from the wind tunnel with computer model predictions to see how well they matched.
“The recent low-speed wind tunnel tests were a success,” Flamm said. “The results of the tests matched NASA and Lockheed Martin’s earlier computer predictions. There were no surprises that arose.”
Quesst Mission Continues
Supersonic flight occurs when an aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound. This creates a shockwave that can make a very loud sonic boom, which can startle those on the ground. The X-59 is shaped to address that problem, generating a thump instead.
The aircraft design is important, but Quesst also has other crucial mission components. To provide regulators with data for changing aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land, NASA plans to fly the X-59 over a number of U.S. communities and survey populations on the acceptability of the sound they hear. The agency will share this information with national and international regulators.
Work on the X-59 continues, and the Quesst team plans for a first flight of the aircraft at the end of 2022.
When they fly it ?
NASA's X-59 Quiet Supersonic Test Jet Spotted On A Trailer Heading To Texas
The Skunk Works-built X-59 that could revolutionize supersonic travel is getting closer to its first flight.
thank you !
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Zumwalts picked up from the Spruance-class numbering of DDs, not the Burke DDG line that took off from the old DLG/DDGs.
I was not expecting that shovel shape to the nose, but apparently the computers say that should reduce boom noise even more.
Wasn't that an A-7 stick?
I can’t stop looking at the length of the nose, and then the nose gear. Would not want to be in it on a hard landing.
