NASA's recently-retired SOFIA airborne observatory aircraft, the "flying telescope," also called Plant 42 home. The agency's ...

NASA announced a successful test of its X-59 aircraft at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., that could lead to ...

The X-59 jet, dubbed the “son of Concorde,” is one step closer to takeoff after the experimental aircraft taxied on a ...

The experimental aircraft has begun a series of low-speed taxi tests at contractor Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in ...

What is required to transform the thunderous crack of a sonic boom into a mere whisper across the sky? On July 10, 2025, the solution became visible on the sun-drenched runways of Palmdale, California ...

NASA's X-59 is taking slow steps towards supersonic flight, beginning taxiing tests at US Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, ...

More NASA's experimental X-59 aircraft continues to make progress toward its first flight with a new successful round of testing. The X-59 "quiet" supersonic jet was designed to break the sound ...

"NASA will then fly the X-59 over several communities to gather data on human responses to the sound generated during supersonic flight," officials said in the statement from the space agency.

The X-59 is scheduled to take flight this year. Once fully operational and tested, NASA plans to fly the aircraft over select U.S. cities in 2026 and gather feedback from the public on the sound ...

NASA’s X-59 aircraft is parked near the runway at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, on June 19, 2023. This is where the X-59 will be housed during ground and initial flight tests.

The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to address one of the primary challenges to supersonic flight over land by making sonic booms quieter. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works ...