NASA's supersonic X-59 jet that could slash NYC-London flight time in half taxis closer to take off
Taxi tests are underway on a highly anticipated supersonic plane designed to quietly break the sound barrier — and slash flight time between New York and London in half.
The X-59 jet, dubbed the 'son of Concorde,' is one step closer to takeoff after the experimental aircraft taxied on a California runway at low speed using its own power for the first time on July 10, NASA said in a press release.
The ground maneuvers at the US Air Force's Plant 42 in Palmdale mark the final series of trials for the 100-foot-long, 30-foot-wide jet before its maiden voyage, which is slated for sometime this year, according to the space agency.
3 NASA's X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft taxiing on a runway.
Youtube/NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center
'Over the coming weeks, the aircraft will gradually increase its speed, leading up to a high-speed taxi test that will take the aircraft just short of the point where it would take off,' officials said.
The high-tech plane, unveiled by NASA and Lockheed Martin last year, is the centerpiece of the space agency's QueSST mission to produce a quieter sonic boom for communities below and revolutionize air travel, potentially cutting transit time down significantly for commercial flights.
It could possibly fly from New York to London flight in three and a half hours, the agency previously said.
3 NASA's X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft conducting its final tests before its maiden voyage.
Carla Thomas/NASA / SWNS
The new aircraft's innovative design and shape will cause it to produce a quiet 'thump' sound as it reaches speeds of up to 925 miles per hour, officials said.
Supersonic flights have been banned in the US and other countries for the past half-century due to the thunderous sound generated when planes exceed the speed of sound — 767 miles per hour.
3 The aircraft is expected to revolutionize air travel.
NASA
But the X-59's thin, tapered nose is expected to break up shock waves that would cause the high-speed roar on a conventional aircraft, NASA previously boasted.
The latest innovation will succeed the British Airways Concorde, which reached speeds of around 1,350 miles per hour and completed its fastest transatlantic flight in just under three hours on Feb. 7, 1996.
The aircraft, which debuted in 1976, was plagued by costly maintenance and a fatal 2000 crash. It was retired from commercial service in 2003.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Digital Trends
an hour ago
- Digital Trends
Sadly, NASA's Lunar Trailblazer failed to do what it said on the tin
NASA has given up trying to reestablish contact with a small spacecraft that launched in February to map lunar water. The Lunar Trailblazer hitched a ride on the second Intuitive Machines robotic lunar lander mission, IM-2, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 26, 2025. Recommended Videos The spacecraft separated as planned from the rocket about 48 minutes after launch, and the mission team established communications with it about 10 minutes later. But contact was lost the following day and was never reestablished, preventing them team from performing the necessary thruster operations to keep the spacecraft on its flight trajectory toward the moon. And on Monday, NASA said the mission was officially over. The space agency added that from the limited data it had received, it appeared that the spacecraft's solar arrays had failed to properly orient toward the sun, causing its batteries to lose power. 'While it was not the outcome we had hoped for, mission experiences like Lunar Trailblazer help us to learn and reduce the risk for future, low-cost small satellites to do innovative science as we prepare for a sustained human presence on the moon,' Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a release, adding: 'Thank you to the Lunar Trailblazer team for their dedication in working on and learning from this mission through to the end.' The goal of the mission was to create high-resolution maps of water on the moon's surface. It could also have revealed what form the water is in, the amount present, and how it changes over time. NASA said the the maps built by the Lunar Trailblazer would also have supported future robotic missions and human exploration of the moon. More broadly, the endeavor could have helped scientists to better understand water cycles on airless bodies in our solar system. In an effort to save the spacecraft, a number of organizations around the world had been listening for the the Lunar Trailblazer's radio signal while also tracking its position. But data from ground radar and optical observations indicated that Lunar Trailblazer was in a slow spin and heading deeper into space. While the team had been hoping that the solar panels might receive sunlight and charge the batteries with enough power to turn on the radio and give it a chance of making contact, it never happened, and the Lunar Spacecraft is now too distant to save.
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
Avoid These Flying Faux Pas!
As Kennedy gears up for her next trip, she lays down the law for her fellow travelers. From disciplining your little terrors to making sure your dogs are put away, she gives her list of rules for the next time you step foot on a plane. Follow Kennedy on Twitter: @KennedyNation Kennedy Now Available on YouTube: Follow on TikTok: Join Kennedy for Happy Hour on Fridays! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Livestream of deep-sea creatures transfixes Argentina
The video feed has attracted more than 1.6 million views a day on YouTube, dominated TV news broadcasts, and even sparked a national conversation about the defunding of Argentine science under libertarian President Javier Milei. 'It was a huge surprise for us,' said expedition leader Daniel Lauretta. 'It's something that fills our hearts because we want to spread the word.' Advertisement Outfitted with high-definition cameras and state-of-the-art sensors, the roving robot captures the enigmatic organisms of Mar de Plata's submarine canyon with exceptional clarity and detail for the first time. The region, where the warm current from Brazil meets the cold current coming up from the Falkland Islands, is known for its little-studied biodiversity. In dives lasting around eight hours a day, the camera encounters an array of surprising creatures lurking in the inky depths off the coast of Buenos Aires: An orange starfish so bright it drew comparisons to Patrick of 'SpongeBob SquarePants' cartoon fame, a sea cucumber viewers nicknamed 'sweet potato,' a deep sea crab that looked like a hairy spider. 'The colors, the zoom capability — that really amazed me,' Lauretta said. 'I think that feeling reached the public too.' Advertisement Often peaking at some 50,000 simultaneous viewers, the livestream from the deep-sea research vessel kicked off last week and runs until Sunday. Argentine researchers and American experts from the nonprofit of former Google CEO Eric E. Schmidt, the Schmidt Ocean Institute Foundation, use the vehicle to map the underwater gorge, collect samples and identify scores of new species at a depth below the reach of sunlight, where scientists have only begun to scratch the surface when it comes to understanding marine life. Few viewers have been able to resist the impulse to anthropomorphize the featured life-forms, assigning zodiac stars to invertebrates and sharing social media quizzes along the lines of 'Which deep-sea creature are you based on how you handle stress?' If you ignore the world, you're a translucent squid; if you explode with anger, you're apparently a pistol shrimp. 'Argentines are very passionate about everything that happens in Argentina,' said Georgina Valanci, 40, her eyes fixed on floating translucent fish while crocheting on Monday. 'I think it represents a bit of the pride that something like this is being done in our country.' Most Argentine researchers on the expedition come from Conicet, Argentina's leading scientific funding and research body, shining a light on the institute's work at a moment when its funding is under attack. President Milei has taken his bureaucracy-slashing chainsaw to Argentine research projects and grants, curbing science spending as a part of a broader drive to eliminate Argentina's chronic fiscal deficit and bring down inflation. State-backed science organizations have lost 4,000 positions in the last year and a half — a combination of layoffs, frozen contracts, and resignations over poor working conditions and low pay. Advertisement Conicet suffered a 21 percent budget cut in real terms last year. Salaries for Conicet researchers have lost 35 percent of their value. Many warn that the measures are setting off a brain drain. Seizing on the surge of public excitement about Conicet, researchers have called for a 48-hour nationwide strike on Wednesday to draw attention to their plight. Although Milei has not commented on the livestream, his allies have expressed disdain. 'They should livestream an offshore drilling operation instead,' said Alejandro Álvarez, an official in Milei's government, referring to growing crude production in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale formation — an oil boom that Milei hopes can help revive the nation's crisis-stricken economy. 'It's a beautiful process of wealth creation and natural resource exploitation that will make Argentina greater.' In the meantime, Argentines seem content to be mesmerized by orange starfish.
