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Space
Space
Science
Brett Tingley

NASA's X-59 jet is ready to break the sound barrier for the 1st time this month

An elongated white jet files above the desert.

NASA's X-59 jet is on the verge of finally breaking the sound barrier.

The X-59 is a supersonic aircraft designed with a radical elongated geometry that aims to reduce the volume of the sonic booms it can create when breaking the sound barrier. NASA's goal with the X-59 is to help develop "quiet" supersonic technologies that could lead to aircraft designs that minimize the impact of sonic booms on the ground below, which could potentially enable current restrictions on supersonic flight to be lifted.

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