An illustration of the QueSST aircraft. Image credit: NASA
NASA has completed the preliminary design review (PDR) of its Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) aircraft design that could be a lynchpin to changing consumer airplane travel.
The initial design stage of NASA’s Low Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD) experimental airplane, known as X-plane, would be able to fly at supersonic speeds but create a soft 'thump' instead of the disruptive sonic boom that usually happens. The next step is to fly the X-plane over communities to collect data necessary for regulators to enable supersonic flight over land in the U.S. and other parts of the world.
"Managing a project like this is all about moving from one milestone to the next,” said David Richwine, manager for the preliminary design effort under NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology Project. “Our strong partnership with Lockheed Martin helped get us to this point. We’re now one step closer to building an actual X-plane.”
NASA will start the process of soliciting proposals later this year and awarding a contract early next year to build the piloted, single-engine X-plane. NASA says the bidding will be fully open and competitive and after the contract is awarded, flight testing of an LBFD X-plane could began as early as 2021.
To learn more information about X-plane, visit: https://go.nasa.gov/2tdiNif
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