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The bizarre-looking X-59, developed by the US space agency in partnership with Lockheed Martin, is scheduled to fly in early 2023 and is designed to break the sound barrier as quietly as possible rather than making a huge sonic boom as it does. current aircraft.
The success of the plane’s trial, which is part of a project called Quiet Supersonic Technology, will lead to the return of commercial planes that can travel faster than the speed of sound, as was the case of the French supersonic plane, the Concorde.
NASA supplied the plane with a 13-foot General Electric engine, according to a recent announcement from the agency, in which it said that this crucial piece would provide tremendous thrust that would secure the plane at speeds of up to Mach 1.4 and at an altitude of about 55,000 feet (16,764 meters).
NASA aims to prove that the X-59 can fly faster than sound without generating any of the loud sonic boom that supersonic aircraft typically emit, which is why the United States and other governments ban most supersonic flights over Earth.