Photos of NASA’s “silent” futuristic aircraft released

He made it public NASA photos of the “silent” futurist X-59 supersonic aircraft, which notably does not have a front window. It is the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology plane, with the ambition to “pave the way” for the return of supersonic passenger planes like the legendary French Concorde supersonic plane, which it resembles.

The goal of the X-59 (NASA’s 59th experimental plane built by Lockheed Martin) is to greatly reduce the sound of the explosion when a supersonic craft breaks the sound barrier.

The Quest for quiet supersonic commercial flight over land moves to the next stage for @NASAaero‘s X-59.

The aircraft moved to the space between the hanger & the runway which marks the start of a series of ground tests to ensure the X-59 is safe to fly https://t.co/1vYRUrGlx2 pic.twitter.com/oqDyCoZ6e1

— NASA (@NASA) July 5, 2023

As NASA reports the X-59 aircraft – as part of the Quest mission – will fly over various populated areas to gather data about human reactions in the sound it makes during supersonic flight.

NASA will hand over this data set to US and international regulators to possibly allow the commercial supersonic flight above the land.

The aircraft’s specially designed nose means the operator sits closer to the center of the aircraft without a windscreen.

For the operator to see two cameras are used, ultra-high resolution image processing software and a state-of-the-art computer for the pilot to believe
that he looks through a normal porthole, but has a panoramic image.

It is noted that the NASA team will need to perform significant ground tests to ensure the aircraft is safe for flight.