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The US aerospace agency NASA has unveiled its X-59, a supersonic airplane that flies without producing loud sonic booms — but instead quiet, sonic "thumps."
The US aerospace agency NASA has unveiled its X-59, a supersonic airplane that flies without producing loud sonic booms — but instead quiet, sonic "thumps."
Designed and built by Lockheed Martin at its famed Skunk Works facility, the X-59 is specifically shaped to quiet the perceived sound of a sonic boom that reaches the ground to that of a gentle thump, similar to a car door shutting in the distance.
The aircraft, a collaboration with Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, is the centerpiece of NASA's Quesst mission, with an end goal of minimizing cross-country travel time by making supersonic flight over land possible.
NASA's X-59 research jet is designed to travel faster than sound while muffling the resulting sonic boom. The space agency is exploring whether the plane's tech could also apply to future commercial airliners - allowing travellers to cross the Atlantic at speeds greater than 1,500mph.