NASA’s silent supersonic jet takes flight

The X-59 produces a lower “impact sound” thanks to its unique design. It is given an elongated nose that occupies about a third of its overall length, dispersing pressure waves that merge into other parts of the plane. The X-59’s engines were mounted above the fuselage, rather than under it, as in fighter jets, in order to maintain a smooth underside that limited shock waves, and to direct sound waves toward the sky instead of toward the ground. NASA aims to provide important data to aircraft manufacturers so they can build supersonic planes with less noise.

A jet like no other

The X-59 is a single-seat, single-engine jet aircraft. At 99.7 feet long and 89.5 feet wide, it is almost twice as long as the F-16 fighter jet, but with a slightly smaller wingspan. X-59 cockpit and ejection seat It comes from the T-38 jet trainer. the F-16 landing gear and F-117 stealth attack aircraft control stick. Its engine is a General Electric F414, modified from the F/A-18 fighter, and the plane Cruising at an altitude of 55,000 feet at Mach 1.4, approximately 925 miles per hour.. That’s nearly twice as high and twice as fast as commercial airliners typically fly.

Perhaps the most notable change to the X-59 is the elimination of the cockpit glass window. Instead, the cockpit is completely enclosed to be as aerodynamic as possible. Pilots monitor camera footage of the outside world on 4K monitors Known as External Visualization System (XVS).

“If you look at the glass at a very shallow angle, you can’t see clearly through the glass, so to get good optical quality you need some steepness in the viewscreen, which creates strong shock waves and actually compromises the low-boom characteristics of the aircraft,” he says. michael buonannothe aircraft leader for Lockheed Martin’s X-59.

On its maiden flight, the X-59 flew at a lower altitude and at about 240 miles per hour, according to NASA. In future tests, the jet will gradually increase speed and altitude until it reaches supersonic speeds, NASA said. Supersonic speeds occur at approximately 659 miles per hour at an altitude of 55,000 feet and at approximately 761 miles above sea level. speed of sound Varies with temperature and to a lesser degree pressuredecreases at high altitudes.

“The main purpose of the first flight is really just to land.” james lessan X-59 project pilot who will conduct future flights told WIRED. During the flight, Les flew an F-15 fighter jet in formation with an X-59 as a support aircraft, and observed whether there were any problems with the new experimental aircraft.