Lockheed Martin called the scene “precision, power and engineering excellence, all on full display” in a post on X. The big question now is simple, can supersonic flight return in a quieter and more neighbor friendly form?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How The X-59 tested its afterburner<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
An afterburner is a part of some jet engines that sprays extra fuel into the hot exhaust, creating a burst of thrust for short stretches of high-speed flight<\/a>. On the X-59 that system feeds a single F414-GE-100<\/a> jet engine, a modified version of the powerplant used in the F A 18 Super Hornet that has powered decades of carrier operations for the United States Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the recent ground runs at Skunk Works, engineers pushed the engine through a series of increasingly demanding tests<\/a>, ending with maximum afterburner. “Running the F414-GE-100 with an afterburner will let the X-59 reach its planned supersonic speeds,” NASA explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The checks showed the engine could stay within its temperature limits, maintain enough airflow for flight and work smoothly with cooling, electrical and control systems, a sign that the plane is ready to move toward taxi trials and its first flights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supersonic flight simply means moving faster than sound, roughly seven hundred miles per hour at cruising altitude, but the real trouble starts with the noise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When a plane crosses that threshold, pressure waves in the air pile up into a sharp shock that people hear as a single loud boom that can rattle windows, startle pets and wake anyone trying to sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The X-59 was shaped from nose to tail to soften that boom into what engineers call a sonic thump instead. Its long, thin nose, top-mounted engine and smooth underside are meant to spread the shock waves so the sound that reaches people is closer to distant thunder or a car door closing down the street, a noise level that earlier NASA research suggests many communities could accept as part of normal city life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The X-59 is the flying centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission<\/a>, a program that aims to show regulators that carefully shaped aircraft can cut the noise of breaking the sound barrier to more manageable levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once ground testing is complete, test pilots will take the aircraft into the air for a step-by-step campaign that gradually expands its speed and altitude, with F 15 research jets flying nearby to measure the shock waves using specialized probes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later in the project, NASA plans to fly the X-59 over selected residential areas in the United States while arrays of microphones and teams of social scientists record how loud the thumps sound and how people feel about them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In practical terms, that means combining acoustic data with survey responses and handing the full package to aviation authorities, who will decide whether future passenger<\/a> or cargo aircraft based on similar designs should be allowed to cruise quietly at supersonic speeds over land once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For now the X-59 is still a one seat research aircraft parked in a desert hangar rather than a commercial jet. Even so, the fiery afterburner run in Palmdale suggests that the long effort to make high-speed air travel<\/a> quieter is moving from computer models and wind tunnel tests to the next phase, asking real communities whether they can live with a softer sonic footprint above their rooftops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main press release has been published by NASA<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA’s experimental X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft has taken a major step toward the sky after its engine roared in maximum … <\/p>\nRead More: Scientists are issuing a warning about Earth’s distant future: in about 200 to 250 million years, a new supercontinent could emerge, bringing with it brutal climate change on a planetary scale<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
![\"NASA](\"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/nasa-x59-afterburner-test-palmdale-quiet-supersonic-jet.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Turning sonic booms into a soft thump<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Read More: An exploration ship lost 250 years ago has just been found perfectly preserved off the coast of Australia, like a time capsule from the past<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
What comes next for quiet supersonic flight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Read More: Archaeologists discover forgotten burials containing medieval skeletons beneath the chapel at the Tower of London… and some may be victims of the Black Death<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
![\"NASA\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/nasa-x-59-afterburner-ground-test-hangar-palmdale-quiet-supersonic.jpg\" "\\"\\"")