Page 21 - The Future of Aerospace is X - X-Planes 2021

Lockheed Martin X-59 QueSST

NASA illustration
NASA’s aeronautical innovators are the X-59 over select communities on Works’ Combined Operation: Bolting team has responded well by updating waves that will lead to quiet thumps in
leading a government-industry team to missions to gather information about and Robotic Auto-drill (COBRA) sys- plans and continuing to make progress. place of loud sonic booms. This will
collect data that could make supersonic how the public will react to the level tem. This advanced robotic technology We’re looking forward to several im- require tools for shock wave visualiza-
flight over land possible, dramatically of quiet supersonic flight noise the air- enhances production by drilling and in- portant milestones this year.” tion, in-flight pressure measurement,
reducing travel time in the United craft is designed to produce — if they specting hundreds of holes on the wing These milestones include comple- and acoustic validation — technologies
States or anywhere in the world. hear anything at all. that are part of the assembly process. tion of manufacturing the X-59’s wing which are continuing preparation and
The Low-boom Flight Demonstra- Data collected will be shared with Meanwhile, pallet brackets have and its mating to the aircraft’s fuselage. testing at NASA, both on the ground
tion mission has two goals: 1) design federal and international regulators to been installed into the airframe for the “We are more than half-way com- and in the air.
and build a piloted, large-scale super- help them set new rules that may allow XVS and Flight Test Instrumentation plete with the build of this one-of-a- These acoustic validation flights are
sonic X-plane with technology that re- supersonic flight over land and enable Systems, marking the first installation kind X-plane,” said David Richardson,
duces the loudness of a sonic boom to a whole new market for commercial of components supplied directly by X-59 Program Director, Lockheed targeted for 2023.
that of a gentle thump; and 2) fly the X- faster-than-sound air travel. NASA for the X-59. Martin Skunk Works. “We will soon At the same time, critical planning
plane over select U.S. communities to “This mission is the culmination Moreover, the X-59 has achieved complete close-out of the wing, which and preparation for the community
gather data on human responses to the of decades of research, and with the several other milestones, including is the central structural anchor of the overflights continues — flights that
low-boom flights and deliver that data X-59 we are continuing to pioneer a delivery of several major aircraft seg- aircraft, and we will then prepare for are expected to begin in late 2024. The
set to U.S. and international regulators. future of aviation in which we will ments that will be installed. These mate of the empennage, fuselage, and effort is taking advantage of lessons
Using this data, new sound-based see drastically reduced flight times for include the F414-GE-100 turbofan en- the distinctive, super long nose. The learned from a flight series that took
rules regarding supersonic flight over global-travelling passengers,” said Pe- gine from General Electric Aviation, team has done a phenomenal job of place over Galveston, Texas, in 2018.
land can be written and adopted, which ter Coen, NASA’s Low-Boom Flight the aircraft’s vertical tail, and the one- advancing aerospace technology and Taken together, this mission work
would open the doors to new commer- Demonstration Mission Integration of-a-kind, extended-length nose. working through challenges to drive is spread across three projects within
cial cargo and passenger markets to Manager. Although production and assembly progress, all of which has been enabled NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission
provide faster-than-sound air travel. At the Skunk Works, each construc- have continued at a steady pace in by our close partnership with NASA.” Directorate. They include the Com-
Elements of NASA’s Low-boom tion milestone brings the aircraft closer many areas, the development of an all None of the schedule adjustments mercial Supersonic Technology proj-
mission are organized within two of to first flight. new, full scale experimental aircraft is threaten timing of the ultimate goal of ect managed out of NASA’s Langley
the agency’s aeronautics programs — One of those milestones is with the not without its challenges. delivering results of the community Research Center, the Flight Demon-
the Advanced Air Vehicles Program X-59’s eXternal Vision System, or As a result, some schedule updates overflights to the International Civil strations and Capabilities project man-
and the Integrated Aviation Systems XVS, which is a forward-facing cam- have been implemented. Aviation Organization and Federal aged out of NASA’s Armstrong Flight
Program — and managed by a systems era and display system that allows the NASA now expects the X-59’s as- Aviation Administration in 2027. Research Center, and the Low Boom
project office whose members span pilot to see outside the aircraft via aug- sembly to be complete and major With that information in hand, regu- Flight Demonstrator project, respon-
both programs and all four of NASA’s mented reality. ground testing to begin in summer lators will be able to decide if a change sible for the X-59 aircraft itself, man-
aeronautical research field centers: The XVS is NASA’s solution to the 2021, leading to a target date for first should be made in rules that prohibit aged out of Mary W. Jackson NASA
Langley Research Center in Virginia; aircraft’s lack of a forward-facing win- flight in summer 2022. supersonic flight over land — a deci-
Glenn Research Center in Cleveland; dow — a result of the need to place the “The integrated NASA and Lock- sion that would be expected in 2028. Headquarters in Washington, D,C.
and Ames Research Center and Arm- cockpit lower and farther back on the heed X-59 team is doing an amazing Before then, however, and even as The X-59’s mission to provide
strong Flight Research Center, both airplane because of its unique, elon- job given the challenging circum- the X-59 aircraft is under construction, regulators with data that may open the
located in California. gated nose and fuselage profile. stances of COVID-19,” said NASA’s other teams of NASA’s aeronautical in- future to supersonic flight over land,
Assembly of NASA’s X-59 Quiet The innovative XVS system under- LBFD Project Manager Craig Nickol. novators are preparing for their roles drastically reducing flight times, is the
SuperSonic Technology aircraft is un- went successful flight tests in August “The team has shown remarkable re- in what NASA calls the Low-Boom culmination of decades of NASA su-
derway at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk 2019 and passed several rounds of silience, and we’re excited to see the Flight Demonstration mission. personic research. While the challenge
Works in Palmdale, Calif., and is mak- qualification testing in January 2020. visible progress on X-59 assembly and Once the X-59 begins flying, it will is there, NASA, as it always has, is pio-
ing good progress. Major progress has been made on integration every day. Although we be important to validate that it is ca- neering the future of flight through the
NASA plans as early as 2024 to fly the aircraft’s wing thanks to the Skunk have had some challenges in 2020, the pable of producing supersonic shock- first “A” in its name — Aeronautics.
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