NASA's 2017 astronaut candidates (L to R) Zena Cardman, Loral O'Hara, Frank Rubio, Jonny Kim, Raja Chari practice flying in an X-59 QueSST simulator at Armstrong Flight Research Center, in Southern California. The low boom flight demonstrator, X-59, being built at Lockheed Martin and was designed to fly at supersonic speeds over land without the loud noise of breaking the sound barrier and disturbing communities.
Astronauts Pilot X-59 Simulator at Armstrong Flight Research Center
NASA's 2017 astronaut candidates, (L to R) Jonny Kim, Frank Rubio, Jasmin Moghbeli, Raja Chari, Woody Hoburg, Jessica Watkins, Joshua Kutryk, Loral O'Hara, Bob Hines, Zena Cardman, Kayla Barron, Jenni Sidey-Gibbons, Matthew Dominick pose in front of X-1E at the end of their visit to Armstrong Flight Research Center, in Southern California.
Astronauts Pose in Front of X-1E at Armstrong Flight Research Center
NASA’s 2017 astronaut candidates (L to R) Jessica Watkins, Zena Cardman, Kayla Barron toured aircraft hangar at Armstrong Flight Research Center, in Southern California where they were briefed on the use of Armstrong's F-15 and F-18 aircraft for studying sonic booms. The aircraft will be used during the development of the low-boom X-59 aircraft that is planned to fly supersonically over land, which is not allowed at this time because of the loud noise created when flying beyond the speed of sound.
Pilot Nils Larsen Speaks to Astronauts on X-59 Research Using Jets