NASA’s X-59 has finally taken off.
He X-59 Is NASA’s new experimental plane built to break the sound barrier? without generating the thunderous sonic booms typically associated with supersonic flight.
NASA did not publicly announce the flight, nor did the agency issue a statement following its flight (likely due to the current US government shutdown).
But the videos and photos were posted on social media by plane spotters and photographersshowing the radically lengthened X-59 taking off before flying north from Palmdale. Photographer Jarod Hamilton It caught the X-59 as it lifted off the ground, making a steep climb into the air over the Mojave Desert.
Based on the trajectory of the X-59, it appears that the
NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center is located at the base. Following this first flight, the X-59 will now reside at Armstrong, where it will undergo a testing campaign that will involve flying the plane over microphones placed all over the desert and following other aircraft equipped with special air sensors through its shock waves .
The X-59 was designed by NASA and built by Lockheed Martin at the company’s historic Skunk Works facility in Palmdale. The plane was designed from the wheels up to be able to fly faster than the speed of sound without producing loud sonic booms, which can be annoying to people on the ground. Because of those booms, supersonic flight has been banned over land within a certain distance of the United States since 1973.
But NASA hopes to change that. If the The high speeds of supersonic travel could also be a boon for disaster relief, medical transportation and other industries.
