NASA pilots Jim Less, Liz Ruth and Nils Larson pose for a photo on Friday, July 28, 2022, during a meet and greet session in the NASA pavilion at AirVenture Oshkosh.

NASA test pilot Jim “Clue” Less poses with the newly-painted X-59 as it sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter.

NASA test pilot Jim “Clue” Less poses with the newly-painted X-59 as it sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, center, and NASA pilots Nils Larson, left, and Jim Less, right, pose for a photograph with the X-59 aircraft, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Armstrong marks the ninth stop in Isaacman’s roadshow to visit NASA facilities and engage directly with the agency’s workforce. Photo Credit: (NASA/John Kraus)

NASA chase pilot Jim “Clue” Less congratulates Nils Larson after completing the X-59’s first flight on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. The milestone marks a major step toward demonstrating quiet supersonic technology that could enable future air travel over land without the disruptive noise of traditional sonic booms.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo"Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA pilot Jim Less sits in the cockpit of a NASA F/A-18 aircraft in preparation for flight tests that will be used to understand the physiological impacts that high-performance aircraft have on pilots.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

F-15 N836NA with test pilots Nils Larson and Jim Less at the controls flying over the Colorado River during Shock Sensing Probe (SSP) Flight #6.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue"Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo"Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

NASA test pilots Jim "Clue" Less and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

AirVenture at Oshkosh 2024

NASA pilot Jim Less is assisted by life support as he is fitted with a Cobham designed VigiLOX pilot oxygen monitoring system. VigiLOX is a sensing system that is attached to a pilot's existing gear to capture real-time physiological, breathing gas and cockpit environmental data.

NASA test pilots Jim “Clue” Less and Wayne “Ringo” Ringelberg step to the F/A-18 research aircraft at Ellington Field and conduct pre-flight safety checks on the aircraft prior to a supersonic research flight for the QSF18 series.

SOFIA’s flight crew prepare to takeoff from the U.S. Antarctic Program facility at Christchurch International Airport in Christchurch, New Zealand, to observe the Southern Hemisphere’s skies. Pilot: Manny Antimisiaris, Co-Pilot: Jim Less, Flight Engineer: Marty Trout

NASA pilot Jim Less is assisted by life support as he is fitted with a Cobham designed VigiLOX pilot oxygen monitoring system. VigiLOX is a sensing system that is attached to a pilot's existing gear to capture real-time physiological, breathing gas and cockpit environmental data.

NASA research pilot Jim Less wears a U.S. Navy harness configuration with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California prototype mask, which uses laser sensors to determine levels of carbon dioxide and water exhaled inside the mask. This prototype was tested in conjunction with the current VigilOX system, which measures the pilot’s oxygen concentration, breathing pressures and flow rates. This and the U.S. Air Force configuration was used in the Pilot Breathing Assessment program at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.

NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center test pilots Jim "Clue" Less (front) and Wayne "Ringo" Ringelberg (back) taxi out in a NASA F/A-18 at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, in preparation of a training flight for the Quiet Supersonic Flights 2018 series, or QSF18. The QSF18 flights will provide NASA with feedback necessary to validate community response techniques for future quiet supersonic research flights for the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology, or QueSST.

The Quesst mission recently completed testing of operations and equipment to be used in recording the sonic thumps of the X-59. To simulate the sonic thumps expected to be created by the X-59, NASA Armstrong Flight Researcher Center pilot Jim Less performed inverted dive maneuvers in an F-18, shown here, to generate softer sonic booms. The sonic booms were recorded by 10 ground recording stations stretched across 30 miles of desert near Edwards Air Force Base.

NASA test pilot Jim Less prepares to exit the cockpit of the quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft in between electromagnetic interference (EMI) testing. The EMI testing ensures an aircraft’s systems function properly under various conditions of electromagnetic radiation. The X-59 is the centerpiece of the NASA’s Quesst mission, designed to demonstrate quiet supersonic technology and provide data to address a key barrier to commercial supersonic travel.

Los Angeles Police Department personnel and former NASA astronaut and NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center (then Dryden) test pilot Gordon Fullerton, seated, join the crew of the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Standing is, from left, Larry LaRose, J.J. Johnston, Jeff Moultrie, Frank Batteas, Bill Brockett, Henry Taylor, Troy Asher, Jim Less, Bill Rieke, officer Kevin Standage, Sgt. Stephen Roussell, and Glenn Grossman.

Mark Russell, center, a research pilot at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, explains the differences in flight environments at different NASA centers. Jim Less, a NASA pilot at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, left, Russell, and Nils Larson, NASA Armstrong chief X-59 aircraft pilot and senior advisor on flight research, provided perspective on flight research at the Ideas to Flight Workshop on Sept. 18 at NASA Armstrong.

NASA test pilots Nils Larson (left) and Jim “Clue” Less (right) pose with the newly-painted X-59 as it sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter.

NASA test pilots Nils Larson (left) and Jim “Clue” Less (right), and Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan “Dog” Canin pose with the newly-painted X-59 as it sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter.

NASA test pilots Nils Larson (left) and Jim “Clue” Less (right), and Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan “Dog” Canin pose with the newly-painted X-59 as it sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter.

NASA test pilots Nils Larson (left) and Jim “Clue” Less (right), and Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan “Dog” Canin pose with the newly-painted X-59 as it sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter.

NASA test pilots Nils Larson (left) and Jim “Clue” Less (right), and Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan “Dog” Canin pose with the newly-painted X-59 as it sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, right, speaks with NASA X-59 pilots Jim “Clue” Less, left, and Nils Larson during Isaacman’s visit to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. Isaacman, NASA’s 15th administrator, began visiting the agency’s centers after his appointment on Dec. 17, 2025.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, center, stands with NASA X-59 pilots Nils Larson, left, and Jim “Clue” Less during Isaacman’s visit to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. Isaacman, NASA’s 15th administrator, began visiting the agency’s centers after his appointment on Dec. 17, 2025.

In 1949, after graduating from the Cleveland Institute of Art, James “Jim” Modarelli began his career as an artist-designer at the laboratory that would become the NASA Glenn Research Center. When the NACA was approved to be absorbed into the new space agency—NASA, employees were invited to submit designs for the Agency’s logo. Modarelli, who was serving as the Management Services Division Chief at the time, submitted the winning designs. The official NASA seal and the less formal NASA “meatball” insignia (shown here) are among the most recognized emblems in the world. The logos, which include symbols representing the space and aeronautics missions of NASA, became official in 1959. In July 1958, Modarelli participated in a tour at the Ames Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, where he viewed a model of a radical supersonic airplane designed for flight at Mach 3.0. With a cambered, twisted arrow wing and an upturned nose, the model deeply impressed Modarelli. He later stylized the radical features of the arrow-wing configuration in his evolution of the NASA seal design; the wing would also become an element of the NASA insignia.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Videographer Lori Losey, back seat, and pilot Jim Less board an F-18 aircraft at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The F-18 will be the "chase plane" for the Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft transporting the Pegasus XL rocket that will launch NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, solar observatory to orbit. Release of the rocket from under the wing of the L-1011 is scheduled for 10:27 p.m. EDT. IRIS will open a new window of discovery using spectrometry and imaging to trace the flow of energy and plasma through the chromospheres and transition region into the sun’s corona. The spacecraft will observe how solar material moves, gathers energy and heats up as it travels through a largely unexplored region of the solar atmosphere. This interface region, located between the sun's visible surface and its upper atmosphere, is where most of its ultraviolet emission is generated. These emissions impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's climate. NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is managing the countdown and launch. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/iris. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper