NASA’s mission integration manager for the Quesst mission, Peter Coen, poses in front of the agency’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft at a January 12, 2024 event 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.

Dr. Ed Waggoner, program director, Integrated Aviation Systems Program, NASA, right, speaks on a panel with Peter Iosifidis, program manager, Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, left, and Peter Coen, project manager, Commercial Supersonics Technology Project, Langley Research Center, NASA, center, at a briefing on the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator, Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. This new experimental aircraft will cut cross country travel times in half by flying faster than the speed of sound without creating a sonic boom, enabling travel from New York to Los Angeles in two hours. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Peter Coen, project manager, Commercial Supersonics Technology Project, Langley Research Center, NASA, center, speaks on a panel with Peter Iosifidis, Lockheed Martin, left, and Dr. Ed Waggoner, NASA, right, at a briefing on the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator, Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. This new experimental aircraft will cut cross country travel times in half by flying faster than the speed of sound without creating a sonic boom, enabling travel from New York to Los Angeles in two hours. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Peter Coen, project manager, Commercial Supersonics Technology Project, Langley Research Center, NASA, speaks on a panel with Peter Iosifidis, Lockheed Martin, left, and Dr. Ed Waggoner, NASA, right, at a briefing on the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator, Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. This new experimental aircraft will cut cross country travel times in half by flying faster than the speed of sound without creating a sonic boom, enabling travel from New York to Los Angeles in two hours. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Peter Coen, project manager, Commercial Supersonics Technology Project, Langley Research Center, NASA, speaks on a panel with Peter Iosifidis, Lockheed Martin, left, and Dr. Ed Waggoner, NASA, right, at a briefing on the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator, Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. This new experimental aircraft will cut cross country travel times in half by flying faster than the speed of sound without creating a sonic boom, enabling travel from New York to Los Angeles in two hours. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Panelists Peter Iosifidis, program manager, Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, left, Peter Coen, project manager, Commercial Supersonics Technology Project, Langley Research Center, NASA, center, and Dr. Ed Waggoner, program director, Integrated Aviation Systems Program, NASA, right, are seen behind a model of the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator at a briefing, Tuesday, April 3, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. This new experimental aircraft will cut cross country travel times in half by flying faster than the speed of sound without creating a sonic boom, enabling travel from New York to Los Angeles in two hours. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Aerospace Engineers, “from left to right” Peter Coen and Randy Bailey attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the monitor while performing tests on the External Vision System (XVS) Software. The software testing is being conducted on the B200 King Air Beechcraft airplane.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

Testing the External Vision System (XVS) software on the B200 King Air. Pilots, Peter Coen and Wayne Ringelberg attempt to spot an incoming aircraft on the XVS monitor.

(from left to right), Quesst Mission Integration Manager Peter Coen, Chief Engineer Jay Brandon, Low Boom Flight Demonstrator Project Manager Cathy Bahm, and Structures Lead Dr. Walt Silva pose in front of the agency’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft at a January 12, 2024 event 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.

AirVenture at Oshkosh 2024

In the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site auditorium, Peter Coen, SonicBAT Mission Analysis at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia, speaks to members of the media at a news conference to discuss upcoming flight tests to study the effects of sonic booms. Kennedy is partnering with Armstrong, Langley and Space Florida for a program called SonicBAT for Sonic Booms in Atmospheric Turbulence. Starting in August, NASA F-18 jets will take off from the Shuttle Landing Facility and fly at supersonic speeds while agency researchers on the ground measure the effects of low-altitude turbulence on sonic booms. The study could lead to technology mitigating the annoying sonic booms making possible supersonic flights over populated areas.

In the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site auditorium, NASA and other government leaders speak to members of the media at a news conference to discuss upcoming flight tests to study the effects of sonic booms. Participants from left are: Matthew Kamlet of NASA Communications at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in California; Peter Coen, SonicBAT Mission Analysis at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia; Larry Cliatt, SonicBAT Fluid Mechanics at Armstrong; Dale Ketcham chief of Strategic Alliances for Space Florida; and Laura Henning, public information officer for the Canaveral National Seashore. Kennedy is partnering with Armstrong, Langley and Space Florida for a program called SonicBAT for Sonic Booms in Atmospheric Turbulence. Starting in August, NASA F-18 jets will take off from the Shuttle Landing Facility and fly at supersonic speeds while agency researchers on the ground measure the effects of low-altitude turbulence on sonic booms. The study could lead to technology mitigating the annoying sonic booms making possible supersonic flights over populated areas.