{"id":449355,"date":"2026-06-09T01:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T15:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?guid=0872cbbe847192065e8af4c63f84bf71"},"modified":"2026-06-09T01:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T15:28:10","slug":"supersonic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=449355","title":{"rendered":"Supersonic!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\">\n<div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\">\n<div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\">\n<figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1152\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png?w=2048\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"NASA\u2019s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft flies through the blue sky. The plane has a distinctive long, sharp nose. There are mountains visible at the bottom of the photo.\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" loading=\"eager\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png 3840w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png?resize=1536,864 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png?resize=2048,1152 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png?resize=600,338 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png?resize=900,506 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png?resize=1200,675 1200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/x59-first-supersonic-ata-02.png?resize=2000,1125 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\">\n<div class=\"hds-credits\">NASA\/Lori Losey<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>On June 5, 2026, NASA\u2019s\u00a0experimental X-59\u00a0aircraft flew faster than the speed of sound for the first time,\u00a0setting the stage for\u00a0demonstrating\u00a0its quiet supersonic capabilities\u00a0later this year. NASA test pilot<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tHvBS27M90k\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0Jim \u201cClue\u201d Less<\/a>\u00a0took off\u00a0and landed\u00a0at Edwards Air Force Base\u00a0in California, reaching a top speed of approximately Mach 1.1 (713 mph). The\u00a0flight lasted 81\u00a0minutes,\u00a0with\u00a0the team focusing on flying qualities\u00a0at\u00a0both subsonic and then supersonic speeds.<\/p>\n<p>The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/quesst\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Quesst mission<\/a>, which aims to&nbsp;demonstrate&nbsp;quiet supersonic flight&nbsp;and help enable commercial supersonic flight over land worldwide.&nbsp;These advancements will help&nbsp;travelers&nbsp;reach their preferred destinations faster,&nbsp;spending less time in the air.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/aeronautics\/x-59-first-supersonic-flight\/\">Learn more about the milestone and Quesst.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Image credit: NASA\/Lori Losey<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On June 5, 2026, NASA\u2019s\u00a0experimental X-59\u00a0aircraft flew faster than the speed of sound for the first time,\u00a0setting the stage for\u00a0demonstrating\u00a0its quiet supersonic capabilities\u00a0later this year. NASA test pilot\u00a0Jim \u201cClue\u201d Less\u00a0took off\u00a0and landed\u00a0at Edwards Air Force Base\u00a0in California, reaching a top speed of approximately Mach 1.1 (713 mph). The\u00a0flight lasted 81\u00a0minutes,\u00a0with\u00a0the team focusing on flying qualities\u00a0at\u00a0both [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16073],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-449355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quesst-x-59"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=449355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":449356,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449355\/revisions\/449356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=449355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=449355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=449355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}