NASA's X-59 supersonic jet construction compiled in Lockheed Martin's video; WATCH

The X-59 Quesst supersonic jet, which is being built by aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin, is nearing completion at a rapid pace. Lockheed Martin is developing the jet in collaboration with NASA which aims to quiet the sonic boom while making an aircraft fly faster than the speed of sound. A sonic boom is the sound produced when an aircraft breaches the sound barrier sending out shock waves.

In order to bring the idea to life, NASA is closely working with Lockheed Martin at the latter's Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. The US-based company recently released a video of the jet being assembled at the facility and explained the idea and concept behind the supersonic X-59.

Reducing sonic boom to a sonic thump

(The X-59 is lowered to the ground at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California; Image: NASA)

NASA says that it aims to replace the sonic boom produced by superfast jets with a sonic thump. Earlier, the agency had said that the sound produced by X-59 when it exceeds the speed of sound will be no louder than a car door slamming six meters away. The supersonic jet measures 99-foot-long (30 meters) and about 10,000 kilograms and NASA has divided its development under three phases. 

The first and current phase focusses on the assembly of the X-59, followed by initial flights planned for later this year to prove the jet's safety and performance. In the second phase, NASA will focus on acoustic validation and demonstrate that the supersonic technologies work as designed. In the third and the final phase, which is expected to take place in 2024 through 2026, the X-59 will fly over several communities across the U.S., gathering data from the public to learn what people think of the X-59’s sound.

"The mission is set to wrap up in 2027 by taking the information collected during phase three and sharing it with U.S. and international regulators. With the information gathered during the Quesst mission, the hope is to enable regulators to consider rules based on how loud an aircraft is, not based on an arbitrary speed," NASA said in a statement.

Image: Twitter/@NASAaero