Nearly a decade after NASA partnered with Lockheed Martin to build the X-59, the supersonic jet has completed its first flight in California, according to a press release spotted by Gizmodo. The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (Quesst) aircraft is designed to reach supersonic speeds without the "sonic boom," and now with this latest test flight complete, NASA and Lockheed plan to conduct future tests to measure the X-59's "sound signature and conduct community acceptance testing."The flight on Tuesday was between US Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California and NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. "The X-59 performed exactly as planned," Lockheed Martin says, "verifying initial flying qualities and air data performan [...]
After a tumultuous 2025 that saw it lose around 4,000 employees, NASA finally has an operating budget for 2026, and one that largely preserves its scientific capabilities. On Thursday, the Senate pass [...]
The first crewed mission of NASA's Artemis moon program may take off in a matter of days, with a launch window that opens on April 1, and as preparations are underway for that, the space agency i [...]