X-59 Wind Tunnel SuperSonic Testing

This schlieren image is of a small-scale model of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) airplane taken inside NASA Supersonic Wind Tunnel, during a recent boom test.

The multiple-week campaign at NASA’s Glenn Research Center’s 8- by- 6-foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel, produced data sets and shockwave visuals that engineers from the agency’s Commercial Supersonic Technology project will use to validate boom-reducing technologies and sonic boom-predicting capabilities.

The boom test at NASA Glenn was one of the final X-59 QueSST wind tunnel evaluations as the agency prepares for the aircraft’s first flight later this year, leading to further low-boom validation in flight in 2023.