NASA's X-59 "frankenjet" tests supersonic flight without the sonic boom
Ars Technica • • business
Key Points:
- NASA's experimental Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst aircraft aims to replace loud sonic booms with quieter "thumps," potentially enabling supersonic flights over land without disturbing people or buildings.
- The X-59 features a distinctive long nose designed to spread out shockwaves and reduce noise levels to about 75 perceived decibels, significantly softer than the Concorde's 105 decibels sonic boom.
- The aircraft lacks a forward window, relying instead on an advanced external vision system with high-resolution cameras and augmented reality to assist pilots during flight and landing.
- Early test flights since late 2025 have demonstrated good handling and supersonic speeds up to Mach 1.4, with ongoing efforts to measure the sonic thump's impact on the ground using specialized instrumentation.
- NASA plans a national tour of the X-59 over various U.S. communities to gather public feedback, which will inform regulatory standards for future commercial supersonic overland travel, potentially reversing the 1973 ban on such flights.
