Over a half-century ago, the U.S. banned commercial planes from flying at supersonic speeds over the nation.
The ban protected us from the thunderous, jolting shock waves created when a plane breaks the speed of sound (some 767 mph), events aptly called sonic booms. For those who haven’t experienced such an atmospheric blast from the likes of a military craft, it’s like the sound of an explosion, NASA explains.
Now, the space agency seeks to tame these booms. On Jan. 12, NASA revealed its much anticipated X-59 aircraft, a nearly 100-foot-long experimental craft that will zoom at 925 mph high above several U.S. communities. (The craft will fly at 55,000 feet; most commercial airliners fly at some 35,000 feet.) Rather than creating a thunderclap, engineers hope the specially-designed craft will produce “barely-audible” thump sounds, perhaps similar to closing a car door.
Ultimately, the aviation industry might one day use this aeronautics innovation to cut flight times across the U.S. or elsewhere in half — though big questions loom around the economic viability of supersonic flight. Still, imagine hopping from Los Angeles to New York City in just two and a half hours.
NASA spacecraft keeps on going faster and faster and faster
“Today we are witnessing history as we roll out the X-59,” John Clark, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics’ vice president for engineering and technology, said at the plane’s reveal in Palmdale, California.
Two supersonic aircraft creating shockwaves as they travel through the atmosphere.
Credit: NASA
Five years ago, NASA awarded the aerospace company Lockheed Martin, which also makes U.S. fighter jets, a $247.5 million contract to build the X-59 craft. It was supposed to begin flying in 2022. Nevertheless, Lockheed has now rolled the plane out of its Skunk Works hangar in the high California desert. The greater mission is called QueSST, or Quiet SuperSonic Technology.
And with the accomplished space and aeronautics agency leading the operation, hugely mitigating the boom just might work.
“NASA does serious work. They always have,” Bob van der Linden, an aviation expert and supervisory curator at the Aeronautics Department of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, told Mashable.
“NASA does serious work. They always have.”
“Kudos to NASA for working on this. For trying to find a real solution,” van der Linden, who has no involvement with the X-plane mission, added.
Here’s the long-anticipated plane. “Behold our stunning X-59,” Pam Melroy, NASA’s deputy administrator and a former Air Force aircraft commander and test pilot, marveled at the plane’s reveal on a Lockheed Martin stage.
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NASA’s X-59 plane photographed at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility.
Credit: Lockheed Martin Skunk Works
An aerial view of NASA’s X-59 plane.
Credit: NASA / YouTube
How NASA’s X-plane will tame the sonic boom
To quell the booms an aircraft makes when breaking the sound barrier, engineers employed a number of design innovations on the X-59:
Overall Shape: The X-59’s sleek, elongated structure, with a particularly long nose, is designed to “spread out” the shockwaves made when the craft collides with atmospheric molecules. If it works, the plane won’t send out violent shockwaves. “Instead, all people will hear is a quiet ‘sonic thump’ — if they hear anything at all,” NASA explained.
Engine: The plane’s single, powerful engine is on top of the craft, where the rumble won’t be directed toward Earth’s surface.
Cockpit / Windscreen: The X-59 is extremely skinny, so narrow that the cockpit, located over halfway back on the plane, has a constricted, forward-looking view of what lies ahead. Fortunately, there’s a solution: NASAs eXternal Vision System (XVS) provides a high-definition display of the world beyond. “A 4K-monitor serves as the central ‘window’ allowing the pilot to safely see traffic in their flight path,” NASA said.
Wings: Engineers built the aircraft with “swept back” wings, a design meant to reduce drag.
A graphic rendering of what it will look like flying in the X-59’s cockpit with NASA’s eXternal Vision System.
Credit: NASA
When will NASA’s X-plane fly over the U.S.?
The X-59 plane will start flying soon, but not immediately over U.S. communities. NASA will build up to those crucial testing flights.
– The first flights: For around nine months, Lockheed Martin will run tests to prove the craft’s safety. Then, they’ll officially hand the plane to NASA.
– Acoustic validation flights: In 2025, the space agency will fly around a test range over California’s Edwards Air Force Base and Armstrong Flight Research Center. The goal is to “prove the quiet supersonic technology works as designed, aircraft performance is robust in real atmospheric conditions, and the X-59 is safe for operations in the National Airspace System,” NASA explains.
– Community Response Testing flights: Between 2026 and 2027, NASA will run the real tests. How does it sound? “This will be done by flying over select U.S. cities beginning in 2026 and asking residents to share their response to the sound the X-59 produces,” NASA said.
This story will be updated when we learn where those selected cities will be.
An artist’s conception of the X-59 plane on a test flight over land in the U.S.
Credit: Lockheed Martin
The challenges of supersonic flight
The last commercial supersonic jet, the Concorde, last flew over two decades ago, in 2003. It only traveled supersonically across the Atlantic Ocean, and while cutting international travel time in half while cruising at some 1,350 mph, it ultimately failed economically. The plane’s route was limited — because it couldn’t fly over land. But that was only part of the problem.
“They didn’t have enough customers, because of high ticket prices,” the Smithsonian’s van der Linden explained. “The high ticket prices were caused by the very high fuel consumption.” (A round-trip ticket — in decades-old, lower prices — was some $12,000.)
The nose of an X-59 model in a wind tunnel during testing at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California.
Credit: Garry Tice / Lockheed Martin
NASA’s QueSST mission won’t address the fuel that supersonic engines gulp. Airplane makers, and airlines, will almost certainly need to bring fuel costs down to even attract customers that can currently afford the highest-priced, first class-type seating.
“They still have a long way to go,” noted van der Linden. In other words, don’t expect to have the opportunity to buy a supersonic ticket for at least the next decade.
“If that airplane doesn’t make money for the airline, they’ll park it.”
Some aviation companies are already deeply invested in realizing supersonic flight. The startup Boom Technology, for example, has built an experimental plane that the company plans to test from the Mojave Air & Space Port in the California desert. Boom has also started building the factory that will produce its supersonic airliner, Overture.
But no craft will be able to fly at supersonic speeds across the U.S. until proven technology can turn the boom into a thump. And even then, an airline’s ticket prices will have to be reasonable enough for enough people.
“Don’t forget it’s a business,” van der Linden emphasized. “If that airplane doesn’t make money for the airline, they’ll park it.”
