Quesst: The Vehicle – NeRDs Moonbase

NASA’s X-59 Completes Electromagnetic Testing

February 25, 2025 NeRD

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s F-15D research aircraft is positioned adjacent to the X-59 during electromagnetic compatibility testing at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. Researchers activated the F-15D’s radar, C-band transponder, and radios at different distances from the X-59 to evaluate potential electromagnetic interference with the aircraft’s flight-critical systems, ensuring the X-59 can operate safely with other aircraft. These tests showed that the aircraft’s integration is maturing and cleared a major hurdle that moves it one step closer to first…

NASA, Lockheed Martin Reveal X-59 Quiet Supersonic Aircraft

January 12, 2024 NeRD

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits on the apron outside Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility at dawn in Palmdale, California. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to address one of the primary challenges to supersonic flight over land by making sonic booms quieter. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works NASA and Lockheed Martin formally debuted the agency’s X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft Friday. Using this one-of-a-kind experimental airplane, NASA aims to gather data that could revolutionize air travel, paving the way for a new generation of commercial…

NASA Test Piloting Legends Reunite

October 23, 2023 NeRD

1 min read NASA Test Piloting Legends Reunite Former flight test instructor and current NASA test pilot Nils Larson reunited with former student and current astronaut Victor Glover on Oct. 21 during an open house at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. NASA / Dave Bowman Nils Larson, aerospace engineer and test pilot for NASA’s X-59 aircraft, met up with his former student, Artemis II astronaut Victor Glover, on Saturday, Oct. 21 during an open house held at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The pilots originally met…