NASA will provide live coverage as it reveals its X-59 aircraft as part of the agency’s Quesst mission to make commercial supersonic flight possible.
For the first time, the public will see the painted aircraft, which will be unveiled during a ceremony hosted by prime contractor Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California.
Members of the public can sign up to get their virtual boarding pass for the X-59’s first flight.
Via NASA’s Flight Log experience, participants’ names will be digitized and downloaded onto a storage device that will be carried personally by the X-59 pilot. Participants will also receive a printable boarding pass with their names, and the flight will be entered into their logbooks.
NASA’s X-59 is a one-of-a-kind experimental aircraft that will demonstrate the ability to fly supersonic while generating a gentle “sonic thump” rather than the normally loud sonic boom.
Once the X-59 completes assembly and testing, NASA’s Quesst team will select several U.S. communities to fly the aircraft and gather data on how people perceive the sound it produces.
The agency will provide that data to U.S. and international regulators to potentially adjust current rules that prohibit commercial supersonic flight over land.
For more information about Quesst, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/Quesst
Image: Artist’s concept of the X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft. NASA and Lockheed Martin Skunkworks will unveil the aircraft on Friday, Jan. 12. NASA.
