February 18, 2022

 

      NASA's X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) is being built by Lockheed Martin at its Skunk Works Facility in Palmdale, California.  This airplane is designed to fly at supersonic speeds without making sonic booms.  The airplane has a unique shape that allows it to make quieter sonic 'thumps' that can barely, if at all, be heard on the ground. (Michael Tyrrell, 2022)    The shape of this new aircraft is like a very long Concord with a very exaggerated nosecone, that is 38 feet long. (Sasha Ellis and Evan Flatt of NASA Langley Research Center, 2021) 

     Currently, our laws prohibit aircraft from flying faster than the speed of sound over land, however, if an airplane can fly supersonic at an acceptable noise level, then these laws can be changed. (Michael Tyrrell, 2022) NASA's X-59 has moved to Texas for critical ground testing, as the massive engineering project continues to  move forward towards NASA's target of first flight by the end of the year. (Matt Kamlet, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, 2022)

     There is a very interesting time-lapse video that is available that shows the airplane's construction period from May 2019 to June 2021.  You can see it at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcvYjkCBY28&t=57s.    "The extensive use of features and pre-drilled, full-size fastener holes has significantly reduced the time it takes to locate and fit parts, especially mating large assemblies like this," said David Richardson, Lockheed Martin program director.  "It is sort of like how Legos go together.  We used the laser tracker to make sure it is all aligned per the engineering specs before we permanently bolted it all together."   (Sasha Ellis and Evan Flatt of NASA Langley Research Center, 2021)  It will be very interesting to watch this design unfold in order to see how it can benefit the public by laying the groundwork for coast-to-coast supersonic passenger aircraft in the future.




Works Cited

Matt Kamlet, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. (2022, January 5). NASA's X-59 Kicks Off 2022 in Texas for Ground Testing. Retrieved from www.nasa.gov: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/image-feature/x59-ground-testing.html

Michael Tyrrell, L. M. (2022, Fedbruary 16). X-59 quiet supersonic jet enters next phase after assembly. Aerospoace Manufacturing.

Sasha Ellis and Evan Flatt of NASA Langley Research Center. (2021, August 3). X-59 Resembles Actual Aircraft. Retrieved from NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/x-59-resembles-actual-aircraft


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