NASA X-59 jet makes first supersonic flight (opens in new tab)

NASA said its experimental X-59 aircraft flew faster than the speed of sound for the first time on June 5, taking off from and landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California with NASA test pilot Jim “Clue” Less at the controls. NASA said the 81-minute flight began at 11:08 a.m. PDT and reached about Mach 1.1, or 713 mph, at an altitude of 43,400 feet. The flight is part of NASA’s Quesst mission, which uses the X-59 to test whether an aircraft can fly supersonically while producing a quieter ...