NASA's X-59 'quiet' supersonic jet aces key 'cruise control' test ahead of 1st flight
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
NASA's new X-59 supersonic jet is a step closer to flight after passing an important ground test in March.
Known as "engine speed hold," the test ensured that the X-59 can maintain a specific speed when it flies for the first time later this year.
"Engine speed hold is essentially the aircraft's version of cruise control," Paul Dees, NASA's X-59 deputy propulsion lead at Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, said in a statement. "The pilot engages speed hold at their current speed, then can adjust it incrementally up or down as needed."
The X-59 team tested the "cruise control" function earlier as an isolated system. But an aircraft's many systems must work in harmony during flight. For this recent test, the team used the speed hold after integrating it more widely into the X-59's avionics system.
Related: NASA's X-59 quiet supersonic jet clears 'major hurdle' ahead of 1st flight (photos)
"We needed to verify that speed hold worked not just within the engine itself but as part of the entire aircraft system," Dees said. "This test confirmed that all components — software, mechanical linkages, and control laws — work together as intended."
NASA and Lockheed Martin have been working on the X-59 for a while. It was developed under NASA's Quesst (Quiet SuperSonic Technology) program. The aircraft is designed to hit supersonic speeds without creating an audible sonic boom, a typical side effect of supersonic flight.
Because sonic booms are disruptive, supersonic flight is prohibited over populated areas in the U.S. The quiet X-59 could therefore advance the goal of flying at supersonic speeds across the country.
In February, NASA and Lockheed Martin conducted electromagnetic interference tests on the X-59. The test made sure that the aircraft's onboard sensors, radio and navigation equipment all worked without interfering with each other.
RELATED STORIES:
— NASA unveils its revolutionary X-59 Quesst 'quiet' supersonic jet (photos, video)
— NASA will fly F-15s through supersonic shock waves behind its experimental X-59 jet
— NASA's new supersonic X-59 jet hits the afterburner (photos)
In January, the X-59 team tested the aircraft's afterburner, which injects more fuel into the jet engine's hot exhaust. This test verified engine performance, to ensure that the X-59 can meet the requirements for supersonic speed.
This latest test confirmed that the X-59 can cruise at a precise speed, which frees up the pilot to do other work during the flight. NASA said that cruising speed is also important for pilot safety.
"The pilot is going to be very busy during first flight, ensuring the aircraft is stable and controllable," Dees said. "Having speed hold offload some of that workload makes first flight that much safer."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pentagon planted UFO myths to hide secret weapons programs, report finds
The Brief A 2024 Pentagon review found the U.S. military spread fake UFO stories to conceal Cold War weapons testing An Air Force colonel admitted planting false flying saucer photos near Area 51 to hide stealth jet development AARO investigators uncovered decades of military disinformation that fueled popular alien conspiracy theories LOS ANGELES - In the shadow of the Cold War, while America raced to outpace the Soviet Union in military innovation, the Pentagon turned to an unexpected tactic: alien conspiracy theories. A newly revealed Department of Defense review shows that the U.S. military deliberately spread UFO rumors—including staged photos and false briefings—to protect classified weapons programs. The practice wasn't just passive denial or silence. In some cases, it was policy. One such incident, first uncovered by the Wall Street Journal, involves an Air Force colonel who, in the 1980s, handed fake photos of flying saucers to a bar owner near the top-secret Area 51 base in Nevada. The colonel, now retired, later admitted to investigators that he was acting under official orders to deflect attention away from the then-classified F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter. The backstory The findings stem from a 2024 report by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), a unit created in 2022 to sift through decades of military records and claims of unidentified aerial phenomena. While the office was originally intended to investigate possible extraterrestrial sightings, much of what it uncovered pointed back at the government itself. According to the report, several UFO legends were intentionally stoked to mislead the public and foreign adversaries about advanced weapons programs. One example is the use of fabricated photos and stories placed in local communities near sensitive testing sites like Area 51. What we know The Air Force colonel's fake UFO photos helped launch decades of speculation around Area 51 The military saw the spread of alien rumors as a form of "camouflage," a Pentagon official said The disinformation helped obscure the testing of advanced technologies like stealth jets AARO found multiple examples of fabricated narratives designed to deflect attention from classified work What we don't know The full scope of disinformation programs remains classified Some events, including specific pranks and altered documents, were redacted from the report The Pentagon has not released names of individuals involved, beyond the now-retired colonel By the numbers At least a dozen personnel were reportedly introduced to a fictional alien-investigation program called "Yankee Blue" as part of a hazing ritual The practice began in the 1980s and reportedly continued until 2023 The Pentagon formally banned the practice after AARO flagged it during its review What they're saying "These episodes reveal how secrecy and misinformation, even when well-intentioned, can spiral into myth," said Sean Kirkpatrick, AARO's first director. He told the Wall Street Journal that many popular conspiracy theories can be traced to actual efforts by the U.S. military to conceal vulnerabilities or capabilities during tense periods of geopolitical rivalry. Kirkpatrick added that not all findings from the review have been made public, but promised more details in a forthcoming report. Big picture view The revelations come as public trust in government transparency around UFOs continues to grow. While recent years have seen serious Congressional inquiries into unidentified aerial phenomena, this new report adds a surprising twist: that many UFO legends were never about aliens at all—they were cover stories engineered by the military itself. What's next The Pentagon says it will publish a follow-up to the Historical Record Report later in 2025, which will include more details on the disinformation programs, hazing rituals, and instances of "inauthentic materials" being used as deception tools. The Source This report is based on information first published by The Wall Street Journal, which reviewed findings from a 2024 Department of Defense analysis led by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Additional details were obtained through official Pentagon statements and interviews conducted by WSJ with AARO staff and other defense officials involved in the review.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
12-mile-tall volcano on Mars punches through clouds
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A bit after sunrise on June 6, 2025, NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter saw one of Mars' biggest volcanoes, Arsia Mons, as it broke through the clouds. The volcano is the cloudiest of the Tharsis volcanoes, a trio that is tightly aligned on Mars' surface. Standing at over 12 miles (20 kilometers) with a diameter of 270 miles (450km), Arsia Mons is nearly twice as high as Mauna Loa, Earth's largest volcano, which sits at 6 miles (9 kilometers) from the seafloor. Due to its height, Arsia Mons is often covered by clouds that form when expanded air that was blown up the sides of the volcano rapidly cools. These clouds can be especially thick during aphelion, a period where Mars is farthest from the sun in its orbit. Clouds that form during this time at the planet's equator are known as the aphelion cloud belt, according to NASA. Arsia Mons is the southernmost volcano in a trio called the Tharsis Montes, or the Tharsis mountains, which are located in Mars' western hemisphere near its equator. The alignment of the Tharsis volcanoes suggests that a large fracture may have been responsible for the eruptions that formed all three volcanoes, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). To the northwest of the group stands Olympus Mons, the biggest volcano in the solar system, at 16 miles (25 kilometers) high. Because of its cloud cover, Arsia Mons has been hard to photograph. This new image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter gives a first-of-its kind view at the peak of the volcano. The picture is also the first time any of the three Tharsis volcanoes has been captured on the horizon, offering a similar perspective as what astronauts see from the International Space Station when they view Earth, according to NASA. Unlike other regions of the planet, the clouds that surround this volcano are made of water ice, which remains in Mars' atmosphere most of the year. In fact, the Martian atmosphere contains more water vapor than the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere, according to JPL. Other areas of Mars contain dust storms made of carbon dioxide clouds. Studying these cloud formations helps experts to better understand how storms form and occur on the Red Planet. You can read more about Martian volcanoes and cloud storms as scientists dive further into the features of our planetary neighbor.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
See a young star potentially giving birth to a giant planet in new image from Very Large Telescope
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Researchers have captured a mesmerizing image of what they believe to be a giant planet forming in the orbit of a young star, according to a new study. The image, taken with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile, shows the star surrounded by an eye-shaped disk of swirling gas and dust. A dark ring within the disk suggests that the gravity of a newborn planet, likely a gas giant, is accumulating material as it carves a path around the star. "We are talking about a fairly massive planet here, a few times the mass of Jupiter most likely," study lead-author Christian Ginski, a lecturer in the physics unit at the University of Galway in Ireland, told Live Science in an email. "It clears out a gap as it orbits because material falls down onto the planet. One might almost think of the planet like a hoover in that sense sucking up all the dust." This could be a rare example of a planet detected while still in its infancy. Ginski and his colleagues released a simulation of the potential giant exoplanet within the disk and hope to confirm its presence using the James Webb Space Telescope in the coming months. The researchers posted their findings Monday (June 9) to the preprint database arXiv, with the paper accepted for future publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Related: Ginormous planet discovered around tiny red star challenges our understanding of solar systems Ginski and his colleagues are trying to learn more about the diversity of planetary systems and the forces needed to create a solar system similar to our own. They do this by seeking out young stars, which could be actively giving birth to new planets. Ginski noted that while researchers have detected several thousand planets around distant stars, these are all quite old. "We are basically looking at the meal after it is fully cooked," he said. "Young planets inside their forming disk help us to understand all the ingredients and how they interact with each other. So far we only have 1 confirmed such planet in its infancy and 2-3 more candidates which are not fully conf[i]rmed yet." The young star at the center of the new image is named 2MASSJ16120668-3010270, or 2MASSJ1612 for short, and is located 430 light-years from our solar system. A 2024 study noted the presence of a gap in the star's disk, so researchers already suspected that there could be a planet forming there. In the new study, 2MASSJ1612 was viewed in scattered near-infrared light for the first time, revealing previously unseen details, including two spiral arms emanating from the center of its disk. Ginski explained that the arms form because the planet is perturbing, or altering the disk, as it moves, creating what are known as density waves. He likened this effect to the ripples created by throwing a stone in a pond. RELATED STORIES —James Webb telescope spots 'groundbreaking' molecule in scorching clouds of giant 'hell planet' —James Webb telescope discovers frozen water around a distant, sunlike star —Scientists reveal 'most promising yet' signs of alien life on planet K2-18b "The stone is perturbing the water, sending out waves, somewhat similar to the planet in the disk," Ginski said. "Now think about the stone skipping over the water instead of just plunging into it. Ever more complex wave pattern are the result. In the disk, where the planet circles around the star, this leads eventually to the formation of these spiral patterns." Ginski noted that he has observed around 100 young star systems and that researchers typically find either the carved-out ring or the spiral structures, but in this case, the images revealed both — as theoretical models of planet formation predict. He said he felt like "a kid on Christmas morning" when he first saw the images. "Basically it appears we may be looking at an absolute textbook case here," Ginski said. "So that makes us think that we can predict what kind of planet is in this disk, and we think it should be one that we can actually take an image of with the right equipment (which is why we secured follow-up time at the James Webb Space Telescope)."
