NASA Reveals Its X plane. It Will Fly Over The U.S. At Extreme Speeds.

Over a half century ago, the U.S. banned commercial planes from flying at over the nation. The ban protected us from the thunderous, jolting shock waves created when a plane breaks the speed of sound (some 767 mph), events aptly called . For those who haven't experienced such an atmospheric blast from the likes of a military craft, it's like the sound of an explosion, .

Now, the agency seeks to tame these booms. On Jan. 12, revealed its much anticipated X 59 aircraft, a nearly 100 foot long experimental craft that will zoom at 925 mph high above several U.S. communities. (The craft will fly at 55,000 feet; most commercial airliners fly at some 35,000 feet.) Rather than creating a thunderclap, engineers hope the specially designed craft will produce "barely audible" thump sounds, perhaps similar to closing a car door.

Ultimately, the aviation industry might one day use this aeronautics innovation to cut flight times across the U.S. or elsewhere — though big questions loom around the economic viability of supersonic flight. Still, imagine hopping from Los Angeles to New York City in just two and a half hours. "Today we are witnessing history as we roll out the X 59," John Clark, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics' vice president for engineering and technology, said at the plane's reveal in Palmdale, California.

Five years ago, NASA awarded the aerospace company Lockheed Martin, which also makes U.S. fighter jets, a $247.5 million contract to build the X 59 craft. It was supposed to begin flying in 2022. Nevertheless, Lockheed has now rolled the plane out of its Skunk Works hangar in the high California desert.

The greater mission is called QueSST, or Quiet SuperSonic Technology. And with the accomplished space agency leading the operation, hugely mitigating the boom just might work. "NASA does serious work. They always have," Bob van der Linden, an aviation expert and supervisory curator at the Aeronautics Department of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, told Mashable.

"NASA does serious work. They always have." "Kudos to NASA for working on this. For trying to find a real solution," van der Linden, who has no involvement with the X plane mission, added. Here's the long anticipated plane. "Behold our stunning X 59," Pam Melroy, NASA's deputy administrator and a former Air Force aircraft commander and test pilot, marveled at the plane's reveal on a Lockheed Martin stage.

To quell the booms an aircraft makes when breaking the sound barrier, engineers employed a number of design innovations on the X 59: The X 59 plane will start flying soon, but not immediately over U.S. communities. NASA will build up to those crucial testing flights. For around nine months, Lockheed Martin will run tests to prove the craft's safety.

Then, they'll officially hand the plane to NASA. In 2025, the space agency will fly around a test range over California's Edwards Air Force Base and Armstrong Flight Research Center. The goal is to "prove the quiet supersonic technology works as designed, aircraft performance is robust in real atmospheric conditions, and the X 59 is safe for operations in the National Airspace System," NASA explains.

Between 2026 and 2027, NASA will run the real tests. "This will be done by flying over select U.S. cities beginning in 2026 and asking residents to share their response to the sound the X 59 produces," NASA said. The last commercial supersonic jet, the Concorde, last flew over two decades ago, in 2003.

It only traveled supersonically across the Atlantic Ocean, and while cutting international travel time in half while cruising at some 1,350 mph, it ultimately failed economically. The plane's route was limited — because it couldn't fly over land. But that was only part of the problem. "They didn't have enough customers, because of high ticket prices," the Smithsonian's van der Linden explained.

"The high ticket prices were caused by the very high fuel consumption." (A — in decades old, lower prices — was some $12,000.) NASA's QueSST mission won't address the fuel that supersonic engines gulp. Airplane makers, and airlines, will almost certainly need to bring fuel costs down to even attract customers that can currently afford the highest priced, first class type seating.

"They still have a long way to go," noted van der Linden. In other words, don't expect to have the opportunity to buy a supersonic ticket for the next decade. "If that airplane doesn't make money for the airline, they'll park it." Some aviation companies are already deeply invested in realizing supersonic flight.

The startup Boom Technology, for example, has built an that the company plans to test from the Mojave Air & Space Port in the California desert. Boom has also started building the factory that will produce its supersonic airliner, Overture. But no craft will be able to fly at supersonic speeds across the U.S.

until proven technology can turn the into a . And even then, an airline's ticket prices will have to be reasonable enough for enough people. "Don't forget it's a business," van der Linden emphasized. "If that airplane doesn't make money for the airline, they'll park it.".