NASA's X-59 "frankenjet" tests supersonic flight without the sonic boom
Sonic thump!
NASA’s quiet supersonic flight tests could eventually go on a national tour.
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft completed its first supersonic flight on Friday, June 5, 2026. Credit: NASA | Lori Losey
More than two decades since the Concorde supersonic airliner last took to the skies, NASA has been flying an experimental aircraft designed to replace loud sonic booms with a quieter thump equivalent to a car door slamming shut 20 feet away. A successful NASA flight test program could influence the design of future supersonic airliners capable of flying overland routes without rattling buildings—and people’s nerves.
The Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst—an acronym for Quiet SuperSonic Technology—first took flight late last year and recently began supersonic test flights. But unlike with many experimental “X-plane” aircraft that may never leave restricted airspace near Edwards Air Force Base in California, NASA plans to eventually take the X-59 on a...
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