NASA and Lockheed Martin officially unveiled their new silent supersonic aircraft, the X-59, which measures 99.7 feet (30.4 m) long and 29.5 feet (almost 9 m) wide, with a pointed nose of a third of its length, a flat bottom, and an engine on top, fuselage and cockpit in the center. Thanks to these technological features, it will be able to disperse shock waves and reach speeds of 1.4 times the speed of sound (925 mph = 1488.6 km/h) without a sonic boom.
The X-59 is not a prototype, but a full-fledged experimental aircraft, on the basis of which (and using its technologies) new lines of supersonic aircraft of future generations will be created. And they, in turn, are intended for use for commercial purposes.
NASA says the X-59 will collect data that will “revolutionize air travel, paving the way for a new generation of commercial aircraft capable of traveling faster than the speed of sound.” And one of the first steps on this path should be the lifting of the ban on land flights for supersonic commercial aviation.
Once the deployment is complete, the project team is expected to begin preparations for the first flight: integrated systems testing, engine startup and test taxiing. And the flight itself is expected by the end of the year.
The QUESST team, a NASA mission aimed at engaging with regulators in the context of commercial supersonic flight, will then conduct several flight tests of the aircraft at Skunk Works. The plane will then be tested at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.
Once NASA completes all flight testing, the Lockheed Martin aircraft will fly over several select cities in the United States, collecting information about the sound the X-59 makes and how people perceive it.
The agency will provide this data to the Federal Aviation Administration and international regulators. And then, perhaps, the decision to ban supersonic commercial aviation when flying over land will be reconsidered.
“This great achievement was only possible thanks to the hard work and ingenuity of NASA and the entire X-59 team,” said NASA Associate Administrator Pam Melroy. “In just a few years, we have realized a silent supersonic aircraft that went from an ambitious concept to becoming a reality. “The X-59 will help change the way we travel.”
For 50 years, the United States and other countries have banned supersonic flights over land because of sonic booms that frighten urban populations under the planes’ wings. And the X-59 is expected to change this situation.
“By demonstrating the feasibility of silent commercial supersonic flight over land, our goal is to open new commercial markets for companies and benefit travelers around the world,” said Bob Pierce, associate administrator for aeronautical research at NASA Headquarters. in Washington.
Author:
Ekaterina Alipova
Source: RB
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