NASA’s experimental supersonic jet is able to rock a red, white and blue color scheme ahead of it’s first flight during which it should quietly shatter the sound barrier over Earth.
The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (Quesst) jet moved to the paint barn at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works’ facility in Palmdale, California, on Nov. 14, 2023. The jet’s color scheme was modified from green to a white body with a sonic blue underside and red wing accents.
The patriotic latest paint job is greater than just aesthetic, nevertheless. The paint will help protect the X-59 from moisture and corrosion, and the design also features key safety markings that can assist with ground and flight operations. Once the paintwork is accomplished, the team behind the experimental jet will take final precise weight and shape measurements to enhance the modeling of the X-59.
“We’re incredibly excited to succeed in this step within the mission. When the X-59 emerges from the paint barn with fresh paint and livery, I expect the moment to take my breath away because I’ll see our vision coming to life,” Low Boom flight demonstrator project manager Cathy Bahm said in a press release. “The 12 months ahead will likely be an enormous one for the X-59, and it should be thrilling for the skin of the aircraft to finally match the spectacular mission ahead.”
Related: Watch NASA’s sci-fi-looking X-59 ‘quiet’ supersonic jet roll out of the hangar (video)
Breaking the sound barrier with a bump not a boom
The X-59 is designed to not only fly faster than sound, but additionally to make less noise when it breaks the sound barrier. Reasonably than making a sonic boom when it hits Mach-1, the jet should create a sonic “thump” just like the sound of a distant automotive door slamming.
The jet is being built by Lockheed Martin through its Skunk Works advanced aircraft manufacturing facility in Palmdale, California. Once it’s accomplished, the X-59 will fly will rocket over communities within the U.S. which have yet to be chosen, and its operators will then gather data from the population in regards to the noise created by the jet.
The X-59 program, if successful, has the potential to reshape rules that currently prohibit the flight of supersonic jets over land.