NASA’s X-59 looks straight out of science fiction in a new video released by Lockheed Martin.
the X-59 QuessT (Quiet SuperSonic Technology) is an experimental aircraft that aims to reduce the amount of sonic boom produced by aircraft that break the sound barrier. Instead of the earth-shaking rumble produced by the planes that reach The speed of soundMach 1, or Mach 1, the X-59 is expected to create a sound similar to the sound of a car door being closed.
Lockheed Martin, which builds the plane through its state-of-the-art Skunk Works aircraft manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif., shared a video showing the X-59 emerging from the hangar looking positively ready for the skies.
Related: NASA’s “quiet” X-59 supersonic plane appears ready to fly in new photos
The footage shows the X-59’s unique geometry, which features a sharp, elongated nose section measuring 38 feet (11.5 m) long. Because of this length of the nose section, pilots flying the X-59 would not be able to see accurately from the front of the cockpit, which doesn’t even have a front windshield.
To remedy that, the experimental aircraft features what NASA calls the External Vision System, or XVS. The XVS is essentially a closed-circuit video system consisting of a forward-facing camera and a screen mounted in the cockpit in front of the X-59 pilot. The system uses “image processing software and custom camera systems, to create an augmented reality view of the X-59 pilot’s forward line of sight along with graphical flight data overlays,” according to a 2019 NASA release. statement.
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Now that the X-59 is assembled, the NASA and Lockheed Martin teams will conduct ground tests to ensure the aircraft is safe and ready to fly. Once ready for flight testing, the aircraft will fly over residential areas to analyze how people on the ground react to the planned lower sound barrier. Once that data is in hand, NASA will pass it on to regulatory agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to get approval for commercial supersonic flight.
The supersonic flights were over the land and within a certain distance of the coast of the United States Banned since 1973, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. NASA hopes to develop an aircraft that will enable supersonic flight, which could one day cut domestic air travel times in half.
