Test Pilots Inspect Newly Painted X-59

NASA and Lockheed Martin test pilots inspect the 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 and Lockheed Martin test pilots inspect the 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.

Photographer NASA/Steve Freeman
Album X-59_Rollout
Location AFRC
NASAX-59Low Boom Flight DemonstratorQuesstSupersonicMachSonic BoomQuiet Supersonic TechnologyX-planesFlightAeronauticsLockheed MartinSpeedAFRCArmstrong Flight Research CenterLangley Research CenterAmes Research CenterGlenn Research CenterSonic ThumpCommercial Supersonic TechnologyTechnologyAirplanes