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NASA Begins Testing X-59's Jet Engine That Could Make The Future Supersonic Again
American space agency NASA and defence specialists Lockheed Martin have started testing the jet engine that powers the X-59 experimental jet plane as part of its Quesst mission to make supersonic flight quieter.
NASA's Quesst Mission is looking to demonstrate how the X-59 can fly supersonic without generating loud sonic booms. Instead, the X-59's engine is expected to generate what are called "Sonic Thumps" which could help lift the ban on faster-than-sound flight over land.
The testing of the X-59's engine began at Lockheed Martin's famous Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, one of the homes of the fastest-ever jet aircraft that ever flew, the Lockheed Martin SR-71.
However, unlike its famous military Blackbird sibling, the new X-59 is a test vehicle that could forever change the way civilians fly in the future. The testing of the jet engine started on the 30th of October.
The X-59 team is conducting the engine-run tests in phases. In this first phase, the engine was rotated at a relatively low speed without ignition to check for leaks and ensure that all systems were communicating properly. The team then fueled the aircraft, started testing the engine at low power and checked if other aircraft systems operated without anomalies or leaks while the engine was powered on.
Speaking about the testing process, Jay Brandon, NASA's X-59 chief engineer said, "The first phase of the engine tests was really a warmup to make sure that everything looked good prior to running the engine. Then we moved to the actual first engine start. That took the engine out of the preservation mode that it had been in since installation on the aircraft. It was the first check to see that it was operating properly and that all the systems it impacted - hydraulics, electrical system, environmental control systems, etc. - seemed to be working."
The engine in question is a modified version of F414-GE-100 which powers the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet and is also expected to slot into the Indian Air Force's Tejas MKII light combat aircraft. In the X-59 this engine will push out 22,000 pounds of thrust to help it achieve a cruising speed of Mach 1.4 at an altitude of approximately 55,000 feet.
To help it achieve the quieter "Sonic Thumps" instead of the booms, the X-59 jet features an elongated beak-like nose section that measures 11.5 meters long which is more than a third of the aircraft's 30-metre length. NASA says that the Sonic Thump will be as loud as the sound of a car door slamming outside, as heard from indoors.
In the next phase of testing, data will be input into the aircraft's computer systems to evaluate its response under both normal and failure conditions. Subsequently, the X-59 will proceed to taxi testing, where it will move from its hangar onto a runway to assess the performance of its control surfaces, brakes, and engine while on the ground.
However, no date has been set for the first flight of the NASA X-59. However, once it does take to the skies, the quieter X-59 will fly over a few cities in the U.S. where scientists will check with the people about their reaction to the "Sonic Thumps".
Thoughts About The NASA X-59
The testing of the X-59's engine marks a big step for the return of supersonic commercial air travel. If it does get approved, the X-59's tech could be used to build the first-ever commercial jetliners that can go supersonic over land, something that even the Concorde was never allowed to do.
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