First Flight

NASA and Lockheed Martin's X-59 aircraft completed its inaugural flight, marking the first flight for a supersonic jet designed to eliminate sonic booms.

Context

When jets accelerate past the speed of sound – “go supersonic” – it causes a loud boom that is audible on the ground below. In 1964, a test over Oklahoma City found that more than one in four residents said they could not tolerate living with the noise of a supersonic boom, leading Congress to ban supersonic flight over land in 1973, ending hopes for faster commercial travel.

Since then, supersonic passenger flight over land has been banned in the US. The Concorde – the last supersonic passenger jet, which completed its final commercial flight in 2003 – would have to go supersonic over the ocean.

X-59 Takes Flight

In a new test, an experimental supersonic aircraft lifted off from Lockheed Martin's facility in Palmdale, California, on October 28 and landed at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

The hour-long test flight reached 12,000 feet and speeds of 240 MPH. While that’s well below supersonic speeds, engineers were testing the new systems for future faster tests and found that the aircraft performed well during its maiden voyage.

New Design

The X-59 has an unusual appearance: At 100 feet long with a 30-foot wingspan and standing just 14 feet tall, the jet resembles a swordfish with its dramatically elongated nose.

That chisel-shaped tip represented the key breakthrough, as it scattered the single massive shockwave that creates sonic booms into multiple smaller shockwaves. This design is intended to turn the boom into a series of gentle "thumps," comparable to a car door closing.

Future Tests

Future test flights aim to push the X-59 to its full capabilities of Mach 1.4, or 925 MPH, at altitudes of 55,000 feet. NASA plans to fly the aircraft over selected American communities to measure public reaction to the quieter supersonic sound.

If residents find the noise acceptable, the data could convince regulators to lift the decades-old ban on supersonic flight over land. Success would mean flights from New York to Los Angeles could take three hours instead of six, changing travel across the continent.