showing off an incredible timelapse of the X-59 supersonic jet, which is nearly complete. Dubbed the “Son of Concorde”, the newest member of NASA’s experimental X-Planes family is expected to fly for the first time next year.
This supersonic jet is designed to reach a very high speed of 925 miles per hour or about 1.4 times the speed of sound. For comparison, the once commercial Concorde aircraft reached speeds of Mach 2.04 or 1,354 mph.
Despite losing in speed, the X-59 is superior to the Concorde because its design is designed to emit a quieter sonic boom. This is the key factor that will allow the X-59 to fly over the Americas next year.
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NASA explained, the X-59 would not cause a large sonic explosion and its sound was only around 75 PLdB or about as loud as a closed car door.
Jay Brandon, NASA’s chief engineer for the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) project, said he was pursuing the goal of getting this state-of-the-art aircraft completed on time.
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Lockheed Martin said this breakthrough would open the door to an entirely new global market for aircraft manufacturers. This allows passengers to travel anywhere in the world in half the time of today’s conventional flights.
NASA gave Lockheed Martin more than £177 million ($247.5 million) to assemble the plane, after announcing the project in 2018.
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