NASA’s aim to resurrect supersonic travel

Can the space agency beat the boom to succeed where Concorde failed.

At Lockheed Martin’s super-secretive Skunk Works facility in the Mojave Desert in January, NASA unveiled a supersonic aircraft it claims won’t generate a sonic boom. The technological advancements created by the X-59 are hugely significant, given that non-military aircraft are banned from flying faster than the speed of sound over land – a rule that contributed to the early retirement of the Concorde. The X-59 can reduce the sonic boom to a quieter “thump”, compared to slamming a car door, because its tapered nose breaks up the shock waves traditionally created when an aircraft surpasses the sound barrier.

NASA’s deputy administrator, Pam Melroy, called the X-59 Quesst a major accomplishment.