NASA and Lockheed Martin are finally ready to unveil the new X-59 Quesst on Jan. 12. The supersonic jet designed to break the sound barrier without creating a thunderous sonic boom.

With the usual ballyhoo, NASA and Lockheed Martin have rolled out the X-59 supersonic aircraft today. In a ceremony at the famous Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, the experimental plane was ...

But the X-59 has been shaped to minimize the shock waves that cause a sonic boom midflight, reducing its sound at ground level to 75 decibels. According to NASA, that's about as loud as a car door ...

The X-59 during its roll out on Jan. 12, 2024. (Image credit: NASA) Powered by a modified F414-GE-100 engine with 22,000 pounds of thrust, the X-59 is expected to reach Mach 1.4, or 925 mph, at ...

Lockheed Martin officially introduced its experimental X-59 plane with NASA late last week. The supersonic aircraft, which debuted Friday at a joint event in California, was built to produce a ...

To see if that affects the X-59, NASA and Lockheed Martin put the plane on the tarmac right next to the F-15, at a distance of 47 feet (14 meters) at first, and then at 500 feet (152 meters).

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits in its run stall at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, in this image from Oct. 30, 2024.

NASA awarded the aerospace company Lockheed Martin, which also makes U.S. fighter jets, a $247.5 million contract to build the X-59 craft, and as the images below show, the plane is in its final ...