Work on the X-59 has been underway at NASA for several years, but construction of the machine did not start until June 2019. Lockheed Martin is building the plane on behalf of the American space agency. Actually, he was building, because the first copy of the extraordinary machine has just left the assembly plant and is heading towards the runway at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works complex in California.
The supersonic NASA X-59 has left the assembly plant
NASA emphasizes that this is a significant milestone in the development of the aircraft, but before the X-59 can make its first flight, it must undergo a series of ground tests. The machine is to be set up on a test bench between the assembly building and the runway, where the agency’s and Lockheed Martin specialists will meticulously check the safety of the machine. If everything goes according to plan, we may soon see the first air tests.
The X-59 is actually a passenger jet prototype that will be able to travel at a cruising speed of around Mach 1.5 (over 1,800 km/h), which is roughly 1.5 times faster than sound and twice as fast as modern civil aircraft. The goal of NASA researchers, however, is not to build the fastest passenger machine, but to eliminate one of the two main problems of the famous Concorde – the huge noise that occurs at supersonic speed (the other was high fuel consumption). It was because of the enormous noise that Concorde could only reach full cruising speed over the ocean. The design of the machine significantly reduces aircraft noise, and in particular eliminates the sonic boom problem that occurs at very high speeds. X-59 is to generate the so-called. “quiet thunder”, which at Mach 1.5 will not be louder than subsonic aircraft.
NASA announces that if the ground tests go according to plan, the X-59 aircraft will be sent to fly over several selected towns at various speeds. During this time, technicians will take noise measurements near the ground and check that the X-59 flying at supersonic speed is not too disruptive to residents. The Americans hope that the data will be used to design potential Concorde successors in the future.
Source: Gazeta
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