GoKawiilNASA's X-59 experimental jet aims to make sonic booms tolerable
NASA is testing the X-59, an experimental supersonic aircraft with an elongated nose designed to flatten sonic booms into quieter thumps rather than sharp cracks. Program manager Peter Coen says the plane continues NASA's 80-year 'X-plane' tradition, dating back to the 1947 Bell X-1, of building single-purpose aircraft to test one specific technical goal cheaply.
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If NASA's approach succeeds, quieter sonic booms could eventually reopen the possibility of supersonic overland flight in the US, a route Concorde was barred from due to noise restrictions. The narrow, single-goal design philosophy described by Coen suggests NASA sees focused experimental aircraft as a cost-effective way to solve specific aerospace problems even as drones and other unmanned systems reshape aviation research.
- The X-59 is designed specifically to reduce the impact of sonic booms through its elongated nose shape.
- NASA's X-plane program has produced experimental aircraft since 1947, including the sound-barrier-breaking X-1 and the hypersonic X-15.
- Program manager Peter Coen says NASA deliberately limits each X-plane to one technical goal to control costs.
Source: bbc.co.uk — Watch Our Pick Of Standout Clips Across The Bbc, 2026-09-24
Published there as: “X-planes: Are they needed in the new era of drones?”
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