NASA, Lockheed Martin to Conduct Flight Tests for “Low Boom” Supersonic Jet in Fall of 2021 Written 9 June 2020
Illustration of the X-59 QueSST as it flies above NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. | Lockheed Martin; NASA
FlightGlobal reports that NASA and Lockheed Martin’s X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) demonstrator is scheduled to be tested in the fall of 2021. The tests will be conducted to see if the demonstrator “retains its unique boom-softening shape while in flight.” The test flights will also be used to see “how sound from the jet will move through the atmosphere.” The “single-pilot aircraft, with a fuselage of about 30m (98ft) in length and a 9m wingspan, is being designed to cruise at 55,000ft and Mach 1.4, NASA says. The team projects that the X-59’s unique design features will give it a sonic boom of less than 75 perceived dB on the ground.”
Full Story (Flight Global)