• •NASA initiated flight testing of the X-59 experimental aircraft to validate its ability to produce a quieter 'thump' rather than a standard sonic boom.
• •The aircraft design uses a significantly elongated fuselage to manipulate shockwave formation, a departure from traditional supersonic profiles.
• •Engineers have yet to confirm the threshold at which the sound signature becomes acceptable for public supersonic travel over land.

NASA has officially begun testing its X-59 'frankenjet' to determine if its design successfully mitigates the sound of supersonic flight. Unlike the Concorde, which relied on brute force and generated loud booms that led to federal bans on overland supersonic travel, the X-59 attempts to spread shockwaves to minimize noise. However, the project faces a major hurdle in proving that these levels are consistently quiet enough to earn regulatory approval for commercial use. Whether this test flight sequence results in a change to aviation regulations will depend on the empirical noise data collected over the coming months.