Afterburner Ignition: NASA's X-59 Supersonic Research Aircraft | Lockheed Martin

Afterburner Ignition: NASA's X-59 Supersonic Research Aircraft | Lockheed Martin

The X-59's afterburner ignites, lighting the future of quiet supersonic aviation.🔥 NASA completed the first maximum afterburner engine run test on its X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft on December 12, 2024. The ground test, conducted at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, marks a significant milestone as the X-59 team progresses toward flight.

An afterburner is a component of jet engines that generates additional thrust. Running the engine, an F414-GE-100, with afterburner will allow the X-59 to meet its supersonic speed requirements. The test demonstrated the engine’s ability to operate within temperature limits and with adequate airflow for flight. It also showed the engine’s ability to operate in sync with the aircraft’s other subsystems.

The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. It seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land by making sonic booms quieter. The X-59’s first flight is expected to occur in 2025.

The X-59 will generate a quieter thump rather than a loud boom while flying faster than the speed of sound. The aircraft is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. It will gather data on how people perceive these thumps, providing regulators with information that could help lift current bans on commercial supersonic flight over land.

The engine, a modified F414-GE-100, packs 22,000 pounds of thrust. This will enable the X-59 to achieve the desired cruising speed of Mach 1.4 (925 miles per hour) at an altitude of approximately 55,000 feet. It sits in a nontraditional spot–atop the aircraft—to aid in making the X-59 quieter.

The X-59's goal is to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land.

Learn more here:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/quesst/
https://www.nasa.gov/flightlog

X-59 Free Maker Bundle (STEM Education):
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/x-59-maker-bundle-v8.pdf

Image Credit: Lockheed Martin Corporation/Garry Tice

Release Date: Dec. 20, 2024

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