NASA’s X-59 QueSST is under construction at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, and is designed to fly at supersonic speeds, approximately 1,060 kilometers per hour at sea level , without producing the sonic boom for people in Earth.
The new design could change the rules that currently prohibit supersonic flights over the ground, cutting travel time in half for air travelers in the near future. You can see its construction below.
About to leave the factory
The X-59 silent supersonic aircraft is manufactured from May 2019 to June 2021, and includes the assembly of its main sections. With the wing, tail assembly and fuselage or forward section already integrated, the X-59’s first flight is scheduled for 2022 .
Its design is based on Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST), which avoids the usual sonic boom by breaking the sound barrier .
In 2023, NASA will fly the X-59 over the test range of the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California to demonstrate that it can produce a quieter sonic punch and that it is safe to be operated in the National Space System. Aerial. More than 175 ground recording systems will measure the sound coming from the X-59 .