NASA’s X-59 jet looks ready to fly into the sunset in this new photo taken before its second test flight.
What is it?
The X-59 is an X-plane (experimental aircraft) built by NASA and Lockheed Martin to break the sound barrier without producing the typical thunderous sonic booms that accompany supersonic flight.
The “silent” supersonic jet already made a test drive in October 2025, and is now ready for its second test flight. In this photo, technicians monitor the aircraft as it undergoes engine run in front of the second flight at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center near historic Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California.
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On its second flight, the X-59 will take off from Armstrong and land at Edwards after about an hour, where it will reach a maximum altitude of 20,000 feet (6 kilometers) and a maximum speed of 260 mph (418 km/h). Future flight tests will “gradually take the X-59 faster and higher to ensure the aircraft’s safety and assess its performance,” according to NASA.
Why is it amazing?
As shown in this picture, is The X-59 has a radical, elongated geometry and changed engine placement that shapes the way air flows over the aircraft in an attempt to disperse the shock waves it produces at supersonic speeds.
By spreading these shock waves out over a larger area, the X-59’s sonic boom is perceived as quieter by people on the ground below the X-59; NASA comparing the booms it produces to a “thump”, similar in volume to a car door slamming as heard indoors.
Sonic booms can be quite loud and disturb people on the ground below. Because of how disruptive these booms can be, supersonic flight has been banned over the United States since 1973. But programs like the X-59 hope to change that by making supersonic flight less of a nuisance to people on the ground.
There are also new next-generation supersonic commercial aircraft under development, for example Boom X-1. If supersonic air travel is again approved over the US, the shorter flight times it enables will revolutionize travel and give a boost to industries that depend on quick response times.
