NASA presents X-59 supersonic plane; see photos – 01/13/2024 – Market

NASA presented this Friday (12) the X-59 plane, a model that promises to fly faster than the speed of sound and will be used for tests that could enable the use of supersonic aircraft in commercial flights.

The space agency says that the eventual success of the project involving the aircraft considered super-silent could change civil aviation. “This brings us close to a future in which flight time between New York and Los Angeles is cut in half,” said Pam Melroy, NASA’s deputy administrator.

According to the agency, the aircraft presented this Friday, in an event broadcast live in California (USA), has the capacity to reach a speed of 1,488.6 km/h, around 1.3 times the speed of sound , which is about 1,155 km/h at sea level.

The plane is about 30.4 m long and 9 m wide, the fuel and control systems are housed in the wings, and the pilot’s cabin is almost halfway up the vehicle, without a forward-facing window. By virtue of this design, a series of high-resolution cameras are used to allow the pilot to see traffic on the flight. The objective is to reduce the noise caused by supersonics.

There is no space for passengers, but NASA said the success of the project could allow plane manufacturers to incorporate the technology used in the X-59 into their own models.

The project began in 2018 with the company Lockheed Martin paying US$250 million to develop the aircraft, according to information from Bloomberg. The expectation was that the plane would make its first flight in 2021, but it suffered successive postponements.

First flight will be this year

After this Friday’s presentation, the X-59 is expected to make its first flight later this year, but NASA has not announced the date. The aircraft will undergo tests on integrated systems, engines and taxiing. After that, if successful, the plane will go to a research center and begin flying in several US cities, to be defined by NASA.

The objective is to collect data to analyze the feasibility of a plane flying at speeds between 2,470 km/h and 4,900 km/h, with low noise. In this case, a trip between NY and London could last around 90 minutes in a future stage of the project.

NASA and Lockhead promise that they will consult residents of the areas that will be flown over by the X-59 to find out the impact of the supersonic passage. The inhabitants’ reaction will be shared with regulators, who will then be able to evaluate the repeal of rules that prohibit this type of aircraft.

Initially, NASA’s objective is to convince American regulators that it is possible to create silent – ​​or, at least, non-disruptive – hypersonic aircraft. In the United States, this model has been banned since the 1970s, when people complained about extreme noise and tremors in their homes due to these planes.

“NASA will share the data and technology we generate with regulators and industry. We seek to open new commercial markets for American companies and benefit travelers around the world,” said Bob Pearce, director of aeronautical research at NASA.

If the model meets NASA’s goal and current U.S. flying rules change, a new fleet of commercial supersonics will become viable, allowing passengers to board a plane and reach distant destinations in half the time.

“In just a few years, we have gone from an ambitious concept to reality. The X-59 will help change the way we travel,” Melroy said during the presentation.

F-15 and F-16 technologies

The X-59 combines new technologies with multiple aircraft systems and components already in use, such as the landing gear of an F-16 fighter and the safety system of an F-15.

The latter is important because, as an aircraft gains altitude, the atmospheric pressure around it decreases and oxygen molecules spread out – meaning the pilot receives less oxygen with each breath. This can lead to hypoxia, a deficiency that affects the brain and other tissues in the body.

Passenger planes – even supersonic ones – solve this issue by keeping their cabins pressurized. They have systems that pump air into their cabins and adjust these levels depending on their altitudes.

But jets like the F-15, which were designed as fighters, work differently. Their cabins are pressurized to maintain a lower cabin altitude when flying at high altitudes. In the event of pressurization problems due to cabin altitudes above 40,000 feet, pilots must wear masks that employ “positive pressure breathing,” a system that helps push oxygen into the lungs.

The X-59 will use a similar system to the F-15.