NASA is preparing for a first of its kind flight, testing a quiet supersonic aircraft that it hopes will open the door to commercial supersonic overland flight. As NASA’s X-59 gears up for the flight, the team are running a series of critical inspections and structural tests. The X-59 aircraft was initially debuted in January and is expected to fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound (925 mph).
Walt Silva, Senior Research Scientist at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, who serves as structures lead for the X-59, explained:
“The testing not only tells us how structurally sound the aircraft is, but also what kind of forces it can take once it is in the air. You do these tests, you get the data, and things compare well in some areas and in other areas you want to improve them. So, you figure that all out and then you work towards making it better”
The X-59 tests are part of NASA’s Quesst mission aiming to lift the ban on faster-than-sound flight over land. Having passed a key milestone in May, the upcoming flight will gather data to “pave the way for a new generation of commercial aircraft that can travel faster than the speed of sound.”
Following the tests in May, Brad Neal, chairman for the X-59 Airworthiness and Flight Safety Review board warned:
“None of these systems have ever worked and played together before. It’s a brand-new thing that we are developing, even though they’re components that have been on different legacy aircraft. As we get into integration testing here, it’s going to be a great opportunity to learn.”
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