Latest news with #QuietSuperSonicTechnology
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
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."
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's about to fly its powerful X-plane. It could make history.
Planes that fly faster than the speed of sound create thunderous supersonic booms. But with NASA's X-59 plane, that could change. The space agency plans for the aircraft's first flight in 2025, an endeavor that seeks to turn the booms to "barely audible" thumps and make supersonic flight possible over land. Over a half-century ago, the U.S. banned commercial planes from flying at supersonic speeds over the nation, but NASA's Quiet SuperSonic Technology mission, or QueSST, seeks to change that. "Kudos to NASA for working on this. For trying to find a real solution," Bob van der Linden, an aviation expert and supervisory curator at the Aeronautics Department of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, told Mashable when NASA revealed the sleek plane last year. SEE ALSO: How Oppenheimer built an atomic bomb before the Nazis Though the economic case and demand for future supersonic flights remains uncertain — flying at such high speeds burns bounties of fuel and drives higher ticket prices — it would revolutionize flight. A passenger could speed from Los Angeles to New York City in just two and a half hours. (Seats on the 1,300 mph Concorde plane, retired in 2003, were too expensive for most passengers, at some five times the cost of flying on a 747, which is largely why the plane commercially failed. It also couldn't legally fly over land, which limited the Concorde's routes.) NASA awarded the aerospace company Lockheed Martin, which also makes U.S. fighter jets, a $247.5 million contract to build the X-59 craft, and as the images below show, the plane is in its final testing stages before taking flight over the California desert. Lockheed posted the image below on Jan. 24, showing burning gases shooting out the back of the engine. NASA noted in December that it was now running afterburner engine tests, which gives an aircraft the thrust it needs to reach supersonic speeds of over some 767 mph. The X-59 aircraft will zoom at 925 mph some 55,000 feet above several U.S. communities to gauge the 100-foot-long experimental craft's ability to quell the unsettling supersonic booms. Afterburner tests on the X-59 plane performed at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. Credit: Lockheed Martin Corporation / Garry Tice To quell the booms an aircraft makes when breaking the sound barrier, engineers employed a number of design innovations on the X-59: Overall Shape: The X-59's sleek, elongated structure, with a particularly long nose, is designed to "spread out" the shockwaves made when the craft collides with atmospheric molecules. If it works, the plane won't send out violent shockwaves. "Instead, all people will hear is a quiet 'sonic thump' — if they hear anything at all," NASA explained. Engine: The plane's single, powerful engine is on top of the craft, where the rumble won't be directed toward Earth's surface. Cockpit / Windscreen: The X-59 is extremely skinny, so narrow that the cockpit, located over halfway back on the plane, has a constricted view of what lies ahead. There's not a forward-facing window. Fortunately, there's a solution: NASA's eXternal Vision System (XVS) provides a high-definition display of the world beyond. "A 4K-monitor serves as the central 'window' allowing the pilot to safely see traffic in their flight path," NASA said. Wings: Engineers built the aircraft with "swept back" wings, a design meant to reduce drag. After the first test flights in 2025, Lockheed Martin will transfer the plane to NASA. Then, after acoustic testing over California's Edwards Air Force Base and Armstrong Flight Research Center, NASA will fly the X-plane over select U.S. cities in 2026 and 2027. Stay tuned. The X-59 might fly above you.
