Hydrazine Dry Run

Maintainers perform a hydrazine safety check on NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, on Aug. 18, 2025. Hydrazine is a highly toxic chemical, but it serves as a critical backup to restart the engine in flight, if necessary, which is one of several safety features being validated ahead of the aircraft’s first flight. 

Maintainers perform a hydrazine safety check on NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, on Aug. 18, 2025. Hydrazine is a highly toxic chemical, but it serves as a critical backup to restart the engine in flight, if necessary, which is one of several safety features being validated ahead of the aircraft’s first flight. 

Location AFRC
NASAX-59Low Boom Flight DemonstratorQuesstQuestGround CrewSupersonicMachSonic BoomQuiet Supersonic TechnologyX-planesSafetyX-planeFlightAeronauticsTest PilotLockheed MartinSpeedAFRCArmstrong Flight Research CenterLangley Research CenterAmes Research CenterGlenn Research CenterSonic ThumpCommercial Supersonic TechnologyAirplanesPalmdaleCaliforniaLBFDUSAFU S Air Force Plant 42Hydrazine