Momentous footage captures NASA’s supersonic X-59 taking off over California in historic first flight

Incredible footage has shown NASA’s supersonic X-59, developed with Lockheed Martin, taking to the skies over California on its historic first flight as the agency continues its sonic boom research.

The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) experimental aircraft is aiming to prove the sound barrier can be broken without making a noise.

This is similar to what Boom Supersonic is doing with its XB-1 as it looks to develop the Boom Overture supersonic airliner. That boom is why Concorde was prevented from breaking Mach 1 over land.

NASA’s demonstrator has now taken to the skies, having been developed at the secret Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.

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What the X-59 is trying to achieve

A sonic boom is caused by a shockwave that builds up in front of an aircraft as it approaches and breaks Mach 1, AKA the speed of sound.

The air compresses into a cone-shaped wave, and when it passes a point on the ground, it turns into a boom.

This is what is referred to as ‘breaking the sound barrier.’

Once through the barrier, an aircraft will fly by ahead of the sound it is making.

NASA and Boom have been aiming to see if the sound barrier can be passed a lot more quietly than in the past.

To do this, the X-59 has a very striking fuselage, shaped to mitigate the sonic boom.

Boom’s XB-1 has achieved this, and it looks like the X-59 could soon do the same.

How NASA’s supersonic X-59 can soften the sonic boom

The shape of the aircraft means the flow of air is shaped from the nose over the hull and wings of the X-59.

This is in contrast to an aircraft like Concorde, where it is concentrated over the nose.

The shockwave is broken up and spread along the aircraft, and then redirected upwards.

That means the sonic boom goes from around 110-140db, to just 60-80db.

During its first flight, the Lockheed Martin X-59 didn’t go supersonic but did achieve good subsonic speeds.

It completed its first flight, and NASA intends to push the aircraft further as testing continues.

The tests with NASA’s supersonic X-59 will help determine what shape aircraft need to be for a quiet sonic boom.

That means we may soon get supersonic commercial aviation for the first time since 2003.