NASA's highly anticipated X-59 aircraft is edging closer to its first-ever flight, bringing attention to the future of supersonic passenger travel decades after Concorde's retirement.
The experimental jet, often described as a potential 'successor to Concorde', is currently undergoing final safety checks ahead of its debut test flight.
Designed to reach speeds of Mach 1.5, or roughly 990 mph, the aircraft could theoretically complete a nonstop London-to-New York journey in about three hours and 44 minutes.
This is significantly faster than conventional commercial flights, which usually take around seven to eight hours on the same route.
The aircraft forms part of NASA's broader effort to revive supersonic air travel in a way that is quieter and more commercially practical than Concorde.
NASA's X-59 aims to solve the issue of sonic booms, which limited where Concorde could operate and became a major obstacle for widespread supersonic travel.
The aircraft has been engineered to produce only a soft 'thump' instead of the disruptive sonic boom typically associated with supersonic jets.
The initial test flight is expected to remain relatively controlled and cautious, with the aircraft performing a lower-altitude loop at approximately 240 mph to verify that onboard systems are functioning correctly.
