NASA's 'Son of Concorde' X-59 moves closer to its first flight

The return of supersonic: ‘Son of Concorde’ moves closer to debut flight as NASA shares video of its ‘quiet’ X-59 jet that could travel from London to New York in under FOUR hours

US space agency’s X-59 could fly from London to New York in under four hours
NASA is testing technology which aims to dampen the noise of the sonic boom

It has been dubbed the ‘son of Concorde’ and is designed to travel at speeds of up to 925mph that could allow it to fly from London to New York in under four hours.

NASA’s X-59 research jet won’t actually carry out such a feat but it could pave the way for the return of supersonic passenger flights for the first time since the iconic Concorde was retired 20 years ago.

That’s because the US space agency is testing technology which aims to dampen the noise of the sonic boom when breaking the sound barrier.

If it can reduce this to a more subdued ‘sonic thump’ – about as loud as a ‘car door closing’ to those on the ground – then it could allow private companies to mirror the jet’s design and operate commercial supersonic flights that meet noise requirements set by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Previous generations of supersonic aircraft have been known to rattle windows when flying faster than the speed of sound.

Meet the X-59: It has been dubbed the ‘son of Concorde’ and is designed to travel at speeds of up to 925mph that could allow it to fly from London to New York in under four hours

X-59 QUESST SUPERSONIC AIRCRAFT

NASA is developing a new supersonic aircraft designed to fly at Mach 1.4 (925 mph/1,488 kph) and an altitude of 55,000 feet (16,765 metres).

Dubbed the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST), the research craft aims to cut out the sonic booms associated with supersonic travel.

The aircraft is shaped to separate the shocks and expansions associated with supersonic flight to reduce the volume of the shaped signature, and was developed by Lockheed’s Skunk Works over 20 years.

The team is hoping to achieve a sonic boom 60 dBA lower than other supersonic aircraft, such as Concorde.

New footage shows the X-59 jet being moved from its construction site to the flight line – the space between the hangar and the runway – at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California.

Billed as a ‘significant step for the mission’, it will enable the beginning of a number of ground tests to ensure the supersonic plane is ready to fly from next year.

‘NASA will then fly the X-59 over several communities to gather data on human responses to the sound generated during supersonic flight,’ the US space agency said.

‘NASA will deliver that data set to US and international regulators to possibly enable commercial supersonic flight over land.’

A sonic boom happens when the shock waves from an object travelling through the air faster than the speed of sound merge together before they reach the ground.

Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, about 110 decibels, like the sound of an explosion or a thunderclap.

The loud booms that rang out whenever a Concorde broke the sound barrier were often described as unsettling by members of the public, which ultimately limited the aircraft to flights over the Atlantic when it began carrying passengers in 1976.

Goal: That’s because the US space agency is testing technology which aims to dampen the noise of the sonic boom when breaking the sound barrier. Pictured is the X-59 research jet

Conversely, X-59 is designed to stop shockwaves triggered by the movement of air particles when an aircraft breaks the sound barrier from merging.

The project was launched in 2016 to create a supersonic plane capable of flying at 55,000 feet (16,765 metres) with a cruising speed of Mach 1.4 (925 mph/1,488 kph) – nearly twice the speed of a standard passenger jet.

This would reduce the flight time between New York and London from an average of 7 hours 55 minutes to around 3 hours 40 minutes.

NASA’s first large experimental plane in three decades, the aircraft has been shaped to muffle the sound of its sonic boom.

The unusual design also features no front-facing cockpit window — instead, cameras will feed the forward view to a 4K ultra-high-resolution monitor in the cockpit.

The US space agency awarded the American aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin a $247.5 million (£187.5 million) contract to build the X-59.

Once NASA has completed the X-59 flights above select US cities next year it will invite residents to share their responses to the sound produced by the 99.7-foot-long, 29.5-foot-wide aircraft.

The US space agency awarded the American aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin a $247.5 million (£187.5 million) contract to build the X-59

Once NASA has completed the X-59 flights above select US cities next year it will invite residents to share their responses to the sound produced by the 99.7-foot-long, 29.5-foot-wide aircraft

NASA’s first large experimental plane in three decades, the aircraft has been shaped to muffle the sound of its sonic boom

Data collected from the flights will then be shared with American and international regulators in 2027, at which point the programme – termed the Quesst mission – will come to a close.

Concorde was the world’s first supersonic airliner and operated for 27 years, but it was grounded in October 2003.

No government or manufacturer has since been able to build a commercial plane that can travel faster than the speed of sound.

Many of the reasons for the demise of Concorde were high fuel costs, concern over its noise and a preference for lower fares over speed.

Nearly 80 years ago, the Bell X-1, piloted by Chuck Yeager, was the first plane to break the sound barrier.

The rocket engine-powered aircraft, designed and built in 1945, achieved a speed of nearly 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 kmh) in 1948.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CONCORDE: THE FIRST COMMERCIAL SUPERSONIC JET

Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet that was operated until 2003.

It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 k per hour at cruise altitude) and could seat 92 to 128 passengers.

It was first flown in 1969, but needed further tests to establish it as viable as a commercial aircraft.

Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years.

It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially.

The other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which ran for a much shorter period of time before it was grounded and retired due to safety and budget issues.

Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet that was operated until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 k per hour at cruise altitude) and could seat 92 to 128 passengers

Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty.

Concorde’s name, meaning harmony or union, reflects the cooperation on the project between the United Kingdom and France.

In the UK, any or all of the type are known simply as ‘Concorde’, without an article.

Twenty aircraft were built including six prototypes and development aircraft.

Air France (AF) and British Airways (BA) each received seven aircraft.

The research and development failed to make a profit and the two airlines bought the aircraft at a huge discount.

Among other destinations, Concorde flew regular transatlantic flights from London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to New York-JFK, Washington Dulles and Barbados.

It flew these routes in less than half the time of other airliners.

Over time, the aircraft became profitable when it found a customer base willing to pay for flights on what was for most of its career the fastest commercial airliner in the world.

The aircraft is regarded by many as an aviation icon and an engineering marvel, but it was also criticized for being uneconomical, lacking a credible market, and consuming more fuel to carry fewer passengers than a Boeing 747.

Concorde was retired in 2003 due to a general downturn in the commercial aviation industry after the type’s only crash in 2000, the September 11 attacks in 2001, and a decision by Airbus, the successor to Aérospatiale and BAC, to discontinue maintenance support.

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