By the end of the year, the X-59 QueSST experimental aircraft is to make its first test flight. NASA has published several photos of the aircraft in preparation for the upcoming test.
The X-59 QueSST is equipped with a 4-meter-long powerplant with a thrust of 10,000 kg. The space agency believes that the engine will allow the aircraft to fly without sound impacts.
The new images show the X-59 QueSST between the Lockheed Martin hangar and the runway. The photos were taken at the Palmdale, California, facility. The aircraft is currently undergoing ground tests.
As part of the QueSST project, NASA wants to prove that supersonic flights over cities are possible. As part of the upcoming test, the aircraft will fly over several settlements, and the agency’s specialists will collect information on how people react to sound.
It is expected that people will hear soft impacts that are comparable in volume to the impacts when closing a car door. The space agency will submit the collected data to international and U.S. regulators, hoping to gain approval for supersonic commercial flights over land.
