He X-59 aircraft of POT has already left the hangar and is preparing for the first phase of its mission to fly faster than the speed of sound without producing a loud sonic boom.
The directors of the US space agency and the prime contractor, Lockheed Martinpresented the completely completed and recently painted research aircraft this Friday at the company's premises in California (USA).
“This is the big reveal,” said the director of NASA's Low Boom Flight Demonstrator project, which oversees the development and construction of the X-59, “and this presentation is a major achievement in terms of the overall goal of the.” Quest mission to reduce the sonic boom.”
The introduction of this research aircraft is a major achievement in the Quest mission's overall goal of reducing sonic booms
Quest is NASA's mission that will showcase the X-59's capabilities silent supersonic capabilities. The agency will fly the aircraft over select American communities and study what people hear on the ground.
They will also share the information from these reactions to the quieter sound “hits” with the Regulatory authoritiescould take into account the rules that currently prohibit commercial supersonic flights over land due to noise.
“This idea of lifting the ban on supersonic flights over land is really exciting,” says Bahm, “and that’s the future that the X-59 could enable.”
The director highlighted the work of the team that worked on this project, recalling that the innovative design of the X-59 “takes advantage.” Decades of work For NASA: We share this achievement with everyone who made it possible.”
More previous presentations
Conceiving, designing, building and testing a new aircraft requires years of detailed and careful work. Each new design contributes to the innovation of a new way of flying, especially in the case of the so-called X-Planes, which seek to push the boundaries of what is possible ever further.
The presentation of the X-59 to the world represents not only the aircraft's technical achievements, but also the future of flight and Research spirit in aviation. Historically, the aircraft and spacecraft built and used by NASA have hosted unveiling ceremonies of varying scope and significance.
For example in 1959 X-15that was that first rocket-powered aircraft, launched before an audience that included project leaders, the plane's pilots and Vice President Richard Nixon. The aircraft represented the future of wing and hypersonic space travel. He took American pilots into space aboard a winged aircraft for the first time and set the record for the highest speed reached by a human in an airplane, a record that still stands today.
On October 15, 1958, crowds gather to admire the first X-15 rocket plane, which flew from 1959 to 1968 as part of a program that included NASA, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy./NASA
Almost a decade later, in 1968another memorable launch ceremony in aviation history than that first Boeing 747 It made its public debut at the company's assembly plant in Everett, near Seattle.
To commemorate the event, flight attendants from all 26 airlines that purchased a 747 attended the ceremony.
Presentation of the first Boeing 747 with stewards from the airlines that purchased it. /Boeing
Another famous NASA presentation was the Space shuttle company in 1976, in the presence of the cast of Star Trek: The original series and from series creator Gene Roddenberry.
The Enterprise, named after the fictional ship from the 1960s television series, demonstrated that the orbital shuttle could descend and land like an airplane during re-entry from space. The vehicle paved the way for the Space Shuttle program to continue space travel.
NASA officials and representatives of the Star Trek television show, including creator Gene Roddenberry, were present at the launch of the Enterprise at its Rockwell factory in Palmdale, California, on September 17, 1976. / NASA
Now, the unveiling of the X-59 supersonic silent aircraft represents the latest major aviation event in the United States. The Quest mission team will continue ground testing beforehand The aircraft's first flight will be at the end of this year.