NASA and Lockheed Martin present a silent supersonic plane

NASA and Lockheed Martin introduced a new supersonic aircraft: the X-59. The plane is 30 meters long and nine meters wide, and its maximum speed can reach about 1,500 kilometers per hour. It is the first aircraft that can fly through the sound barrier without making a loud noise.

The nose of the X-59 occupies about a third of the aircraft's total length. The aircraft's engines were also mounted on top, giving the supersonic aircraft a “smooth” underside. These adjustments will be made According to NASA You should ensure that you hear a lower boom when the aircraft flies through the sound barrier. Because the nose was so long, it had no windows to look forward. The cockpit is equipped with a camera system that allows pilots to see into the future via a 4K video stream.

X-59 part of QueSST mission. Through this mission, the American Space Agency wants to prove that it is possible to organize supersonic flights without causing a loud sound that can be heard on the ground floor. The space agency will conduct several test flights using the X-59 in the United States and then see how people on the ground floor react to the sound the plane makes as it flies through the sound barrier. This data will then be shared with the FAA and international aviation organizations so they can determine potential noise standards for supersonic flights over land.

Lockheed Martin began building the X-59 in 2018. Two years earlier, in 2016, NASA commissioned the American aircraft manufacturer to build a silent supersonic aircraft. At the time, it was a preliminary design that could be used as a prototype to create the final QueSST aircraft.

Between 1976 and 2003, Air France and British Airways operated supersonic passenger flights using Concorde. Only twenty examples of the aircraft were built, including the six that were not suitable for commercial flights. Concorde reached a top speed of Mach 2.04, or 2,179 km/h. The flight from London to New York can be made in about 3.5 hours.

In 2003, airlines stopped Concorde flights. Passenger numbers fell after the 2000 plane crash, in which a plane caught fire shortly after take-off, killing everyone on board. The aircraft also became expensive to maintain and there was much comment about the noise pollution caused by supersonic flights.