NASA just packed engine performance tests on its X-59 research aircraft, which the aircraft company hopes will prove a means to mitigate the abominable sound boom of supersonic aircraft.
NASA and Lockheed Martin tested a single modified F414-GE-100 engine between October and February, which will be the aircraft and its sub- The system provides power.
“Our planned engine grounding tests have progressed successfully,” Raymond Castner, director of X-59 propulsion at NASA Glenn Research Center, said during the agency release. “As the wind tunnel test predicted, we became smooth and stable. We didn’t have any structural or excessive vibration problems. And a portion of the engine and aircraft that needed cooling.”
When the plane exceeds Mach 1 (sound speed, or about 767 miles per hour, 1,234 km per hour) crackthe sound of air pressure waves is combined to form a shock wave generated by the aircraft at an extremely fast speed.
This sound – the boom of sound – would marvel at the people on the ground, even broken windows, which led to the Federal Aviation Administration's Concorde's people, although stylish, were neither fuel-efficient nor economical. And there was a lot of noise complaints from the cities it flew. Concorde's last flight took place in 2003.
NASA has also released some very neat test footage that you can check below. First, the X-59 team tested the aircraft's hydraulics and its electrical and environmental control systems. They then did a throttle check and fired the aircraft's afterburner to a maximum (as shown). These patterns seen in the plume are called impact diamonds, which are wave patterns formed by compression and expansion when the exhaust exits the rocket nozzle at supersonic speed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g44x7cswxse
The X-59 first got out of the hangar in Palmadale, California in January 2024. The Big Reveal is a wonder: a 99-foot long (30-meter) plane, standing only 14 feet (4.27 m), 29.5 feet (9 m) wide, with needles per inch designed to be used with minimal disturbance Cut the air. The stiletto-like design of the aircraft is totally point (no puns): its slimness should reduce the pressure change that flows through the ground, thus reducing what is usually a sound boom into a sound explosion. A NASA engineer compared the sound of the X-59 with a closed door.
To do this, the X-59's engine is installed on the top of the aircraft, thereby reducing the amount of noise from the aircraft reaching the ground.
The efforts to resurrect supersonic travel are also from the private sector. In late January, aerospace company Boom Supersonic flew the experimental plane faster than sound for the first time (XB-1 demonstrators), achieving the feat three times on the flight.
The X-59 has a cruising height of 55,000 feet (16,764 m) and is designed to reach speeds of 925 mph (1,489 km/h). NASA did not provide an updated schedule for the aircraft's first long-running flight in a recent release, which was scheduled for the flight last year, but the version said more testing is still needed.
Specifically, the test is to check for electromagnetic interference and how the aircraft processes data under normal and fault conditions. Finally, taxi testing will be conducted – given the ultimate goal of getting this aircraft to operate, critical testing can be performed.
Once NASA first flew the X-59, the agency will allow the aircraft to pass a series of tests to explore how the aircraft’s so-called Sonic Thump actually experienced on the ground. These demonstrations will continue until 2027 – although the schedule may depend on when the jets actually move.
