SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX, NASA and Intuitive Machines are planning to launch the NASA CLPS IM-1 lunar lander Odysseus tonight at Kennedy Space Center from Pad LC-39A at 12:57 AM EST. The launch, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, aims to be the first successful American soft-landing on the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Following the launch, the booster being used for the mission will return to land at LZ-1 in Cape Canaveral, and will herald its return with a sonic boom that will be heard across the Space Coast region.
That’s the first of two launches scheduled for Valentine’s Day. The second is USSF-124, launching from SpaceX’s pad SLC-40 Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This mission’s launch window extends from 5:30 PM until 10:00 PM EST and is also an RTLS mission.
Launch Weather Outlook: NASA CLPS IM-1
First, the early launch, NASA CLPS/IM-1: the 45th Weather Squadron of the US Space Force is predicting a low Probability of Violation for the planned liftoff at 12:57 AM EST: only 5%. That means they are expecting a 95% chance of acceptable conditions for liftoff.
NASA CLPS IM-1 Trajectory
As is customary for most missions beyond Earth orbit, NASA CLPS IM-1 will take an easterly path from KSC after liftoff. People watching the launch in person should be able to see the reentry burn and if in the right place, the landing burn of Falcon 9 as it returns to land.
A Falcon 9 Booster landing at LZ-1 in 2023 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Launch Weather Outlook: USSF-124
The weather gets even better for the second planned launch of the day, according to the 45th Weather Wing: less than a 5% Probability of Violation, meaning a 95+% chance of acceptable weather conditions at liftoff.
USSF-124 Trajectory
Also eastward. Again, in-person launch viewers should be able to see the reentry burn and if in the right place, the landing burn of Falcon 9 as it returns to land.
SpaceX has not announced which landing pad they will utilize for this launch — either LZ-2, or perhaps the Falcon 9 used for LM-1 will be removed in time for USSF-124. Either way, to launch viewers off of the base itself, the landing will be in the same general direction.
Falcon 9 lifting off from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in 2023. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
IM-1, the first NASA Commercial Launch Program Services launch for Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander, will carry multiple payloads to the Moon, including Lunar Node-1, demonstrating autonomous navigation via radio beacon to support precise geolocation and navigation among lunar orbiters, landers, and surface personnel. NASA’s CLPS initiative oversees industry development of small robotic landers and rovers to support NASA’s Artemis campaign. Photo: NASA / Intuitive Machines
Shortly after midnight this Wednesday, the next NASA CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) lunar lander is set to begin its trip to the moon’s surface aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. Launch time is scheduled for 12:57 AM EST, from Pad LC-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The lander was built by Intuitive Machines, a Houston-based company, and is named “Odysseus.” The mission designation is IM-1. Assuming a successful flight to orbit and post-launch vehicle checkouts, IM-1 will undertake a nine-day trip to the moon, where it will then attempt to be the first successful American soft-landing on the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.
As part of Project Artemis, in May 2019, the agency awarded a task order for scientific payload delivery to Intuitive Machines to build and fly Odysseus and IM-1. The spacecraft will “Demonstrate autonomous navigation,” according to a press release from NASA.
Malapert massif (informal name) is thought to be a remnant of the South Pole – Aitken basin rim, which formed more than 4 billion years ago. More recently, this magnificent peak (lower left) was selected as an Artemis 3 candidate landing region. Image is 25 kilometers wide in the center, Narrow Angle Camera M1432398306LR Photo: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
The landing site selected for this mission is Malapert A, a satellite crater to Malapert, a 69 km crater in the Moon’s south pole region. Named after Charles Malapert, a 17th-century Belgian astronomer, the area around the landing site is believed to be made of lunar highland material, similar to Apollo 16’s landing site in the in the Descartes Highlands.
NASA said that “the Lunar Node-1 experiment, or LN-1, is a radio beacon designed to support precise geolocation and navigation observations for landers, surface infrastructure, and astronauts, digitally confirming their positions on the Moon relative to other craft, ground stations, or rovers on the move. These radio beacons also can be used in space to help with orbital maneuvers and with guiding landers to a successful touchdown on the lunar surface.”
Odysseus will then have seven days to complete experiments on the lunar surface before the lunar night sets on the south pole of the Moon, rendering the spacecraft inoperable.
Utility of Lunar Node-1
“Imagine getting verification from a lighthouse on the shore you’re approaching, rather than waiting on word from the home port you left days earlier,” said Evan Anzalone, principal investigator of LN-1 and a navigation systems engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “What we seek to deliver is a lunar network of lighthouses, offering sustainable, localized navigation assets that enable lunar craft and ground crews to quickly and accurately confirm their position instead of relying on Earth.”
Intuitive Machines Leadership
Intuitive Machines was founded by CEO Steve Altemus in 2013, along with CTO Tim Crain, Stephen Altemus, and Kam Ghaffarian (a cofounder of Axiom Space) and is a publicly traded company.
Altemus is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach and holds an M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Central Florida. He is also a former Shuttle program employee working in operations, launch, and landing activities prior to leaving to Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston where he served as a Deputy Director of Engineering.
Ghaffarian holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science and Electronics Engineering, an M.Sc. in Information Management, and a PhD in Management Information Systems. He has worked for Lockheed Martin on various NASA contracts, Loral Space, and as an entrepreneur, Ghaffarian co-founded Axiom Space, IBX, X-energy, and Quantum Space in addition to Intuitive Machines. He is also a philanthropist promoting STEM education.
Crain holds a Bachelor’s, M.S. and Ph.D. in Aerospace engineering, and like Altemus is a NASA employee where he worked as an aerospace engineer, a strategic advisor and as the Guidance, Navigation and Control Lead for the Morpheus Vertical Test Bed, a prototype planetary lander capable of vertical takeoff and landing.
Polaris Dawn, the initial flight of a planned series of three private spaceflights led by American entrepreneur and private astronaut Jared Isaacman, has been delayed according to an announcement from the program today. “We are now targeting no earlier than summer 2024 for launch of Polaris Dawn, the first of the Polaris Program’s three human spaceflights,” they said in a post on the X platform.
Flying aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 and a Crew Dragon capsule from Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39A, the five-day Polaris Dawn mission will represent several firsts for private spaceflight: the first time an EVA is undertaken from a private spacecraft in orbit, and at a planned altitude of at least 700 km (434 miles) it will be well above the 400 km (~250 mile) orbit of ISS when that spacewalk happens.
SpaceX Crew Dragon on the pad at Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39A in 2024. Photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville
They are also planning a 1,400 km (~870 mile) apogee during the flight, according to Polaris Program. Currently, the record for altitude for a crew in Earth orbit is 1,369.0 km, (739.2 nautical miles.) Should Polaris Dawn reach 1,400 km, it will be the highest crewed orbital flight in human history, and certainly the highest in over fifty years.
Polaris Dawn Science Plans
Aside from the groundbreaking EVA, Polaris Dawn will also be “the first crew to test Starlink laser-based communications in space.” They will also perform experiments:
“Using ultrasound to monitor, detect, and quantify venous gas emboli (VGE), contributing to studies on human prevalence to decompression sickness;
“Gathering data on the radiation environment to better understand how space radiation affects human biological systems;
“Providing biological samples towards multi-omics analyses for a long-term Biobank; and
“Research related to Spaceflight Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome (SANS), which is a key risk to human health in long-duration spaceflight.”
There are other experiments planned for Polaris Dawn. More information about the Polaris Dawn mission is at the program’s website.
After the Polaris Dawn flight, the Polaris Program plans one additional flight on a Falcon 9 / Crew Dragon, and a final flight being planned to be completed using a SpaceX Starship, the company’s new rocket under development in south Texas. The third flight is also slated to be the first crewed flight of Starship according to the Polaris Program website. Launch timelines for those missions have not yet been publicly disclosed.
More Development Time Needed
According to the Polaris Program, “The additional time continues to provide necessary developmental time to ensure both the completion of these mission goals and a safe launch and return of Dragon and the crew.” They did not give specifics about which aspects of the mission require further time, but did add that the crew is already training at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California and also that additional time gives the crew additional time to raise funds for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
About St. Jude
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is located in Memphis, Tennessee, and according to their website, they “Advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family’s ability to pay.”
There are few causes with greater impact than helping families whose children are undergoing treatment for severe, life-threatening illnesses. Interested people can donate to St. Jude through the Polaris Dawn website.
Statue of St. Jude on the campus in Memphis. Photo: St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital
Screen-capture of SpaceX livestream of the AX3 reentry and splashdown. This shot was captured a few minutes after the capsule had landed safely. Photo: SpaceX
The Axiom-3 mission has ended safely off the Florida coast near Daytona Beach. Michael López-Alegría, Commander of the the AX3 mission, reported a few minutes after the splashdown “flying SpaceX was our pleasure” and that “all four crew members are feeling well.”
SpaceX ground controllers were also pleased by the safe landing, telling the crew, “Thank you for flying SpaceX!”
Several Space Coast area residents reported that while the reentry was largely obscured by clouds overhead, they could definitely hear a sonic boom that heralded the return of Crew Dragon.
Historian and host of the podcast “Space And Things” Emily Carney told Talk of Titusville that she heard the sonic boom on the other side of Florida, “I could hear the sonic booms all the way in Saint Petersburg – they woke me up, they were quite impressive. I checked my newsfeed to verify Ax-3 was returning and that was the culprit!”
Winds Delayed Landing
Originally slated to land last weekend, the Axiom-3 return to Earth had been delayed several days due to inclement weather off both sides of the Florida peninsula. High winds also affected the timing of the liftoff of NASA’s PACE mission this week. The winds finally relented and allowed both the launch and the splashdown on Thursday and today, respectively, and both missions were completed successfully: PACE is on orbit and Axiom-3’s astronauts are back on the Earth.
Screen-capture of SpaceX livestream of the AX3 splashdown. Photo: SpaceX
Next Steps
Crew Dragon Freedom will then return to Port Canaveral in Florida and astronauts will undergo post-flight health checks and debriefing. The capsule will return to Space X’s facilities at Kennedy Space Center for analysis, checkouts and hopefully refurbishment for the next mission.
Experiments performed by the crew aboard ISS will also be analyzed, a process that could extend for several months.
We reached out to Axiom Space to ascertain when a potential Axiom-4 mission could take place, and they told us, “NASA and Axiom Space have signed a mission order for the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, targeted to launch no earlier than October 2024 from the agency’s NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.” On today’s SpaceX livestream, commentators mentioned that they were looking forward to working with the Axiom for that mission.
SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off with NASA’s PACE satellite on February 8, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
After two delays due to high winds, SpaceX launched the PACE Earth-observing satellite to orbit from Cape Canaveral this morning. Seven and one half minutes later, Booster 1081 announced its return to the Space Coast with a sonic boom moments after safely touching down, completing its fourth flight.
The launch was the eighth for the Eastern Range this year, the 223rd orbital attempt from SLC-40, and the 923rd from Cape Canaveral.
According the Tim Dunn of NASA’s Launch Services Program, and the launch director for tonight’s flight, “PACE is the eighth NASA LSP mission to launch on a SpaceX rocket, and the first government mission to fly a polar trajectory from the Cape since November of 1960.”
SpaceX has flown polar missions commercially 11 times, Dunn added. Today’s launch was the twelfth such mission.
From the Kennedy Space Center Press Site, photographer Ed Cordero caught this incredibly detailed B&W photo of SpaceX’s launch of PACE last night. You can see the engine nozzles on Falcon 9 as it ascends from the launch pad. Photo: Ed Cordero, Florida Media Now
In a press release from NASA issued early this morning, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, “Congratulations to the PACE team on a successful launch. With this new addition to NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites, PACE will help us learn, like never before, how particles in our atmosphere and our oceans can identify key factors impacting global warming.”
After separation from the second stage, Falcon 9 put on a spectacular display over the skies of the Space Coast. Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media Now
Next Up For PACE
Following the successful launch, according to NASA , next up for PACE is a PLAR, or Post-Launch Assessment review. “The PLAR is conducted following the launch, typically after the early flight operations and initial checkout.”
“At the PLAR, the PACE project demonstrates to the review panel, the readiness of the spacecraft systems to proceed with full, routine operations; status, performance, and capabilities of the project as evidenced from the flight operations experience since launch; readiness to transfer responsibility from the development organization to the operations organization; project plans and the capability to conduct the mission with emphasis on near-term operations and mission-critical events.”
Assuming a healthy spacecraft, after the PLAR, PACE is expected to begin operations later this coming spring.
PACE Mission
According to NASA, “PACE’s data will help us better understand how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide. In addition, it will reveal how aerosols might fuel phytoplankton growth in the surface ocean. Novel uses of PACE data will benefit our economy and society. For example, it will help identify the extent and duration of harmful algal blooms. PACE will extend and expand NASA’s long-term observations of our living planet. By doing so, it will take Earth’s pulse in new ways for decades to come.”
Dr. Karen St. Germain, Director of NASA’s Earth Sciences Division
Prior to the launch, Dr. Karen St. Germain, the director of NASA’s Earth Science Division said, “The surface of the Earth is covered 70% by oceans and yet in many ways we know more about the surface of the Moon than we do about our own oceans. PACE will be the most advanced mission we’ve ever launched to study ocean biology.”
She added that PACE “will join SWOT [that] we launched a little over a year ago that’s giving us the most detailed view we’ve ever had of the physical oceanography, [of] how water is moving in our oceans and that is very closely related to what PACE will tell about what’s living in our oceans.”
Booster
SpaceX used Booster 1081 for this mission, its fourth mission.
Flight
Date
Mission
Launch Pad
Result
1
26 August 2023
Crew-7
LC-39A
Success
2
10 November 2023
CRS-29
LC-39A
Success
3
19 December 2023
Starlink 6-34
SLC-40
Success
4
08 February 2024
NASA PACE
SLC-40
Success
Booster 1081 launch record as of 2/8/2024
After post-landing checkouts, the booster will be returned to Hangar X at Kennedy Space Center for inspection and ostensibly for needed refurbishment and preparations needed to ready it for its next launch.
Next Launch
On February 14th NASA CLPS / Intuitive Machines IM-1 is scheduled to launch from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center aboard a Falcon 9 booster. The listed launch time is 12:57 AM EST.
SpaceX and NASA plan to launch the PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite at 1:33 AM EST Thursday from the company’s launch facility at SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. Booster 1071 will return to the Cape and land about 5.6 miles away at Landing Zone 1 a little more than seven minutes after liftoff (T-plus 00:07:32.)
The launch has been delayed twice this week due to high winds created by an intense low-pressure system off the Florida coast in the Atlantic but it is now moving away, and winds have been steadily calming throughout the day. The 45th Weather Squadron’s Mission Execution Forecast calls for a 95% chance of acceptable conditions this morning.
A Sonic Boom Will Be Heard In The Space Coast Area
A sonic boom will accompany the landing and spread out through the Space Coast at roughly 1:41 AM EST. Remember that sound travels one mile in five seconds at sea level, so the specific time the sonic boom will arrive at your location will be relative to your distance from LZ-1.
PACE is a NASA Earth-observing satellite mission that will perform advanced observations of global ocean color, biogeochemistry, and ecology, as well as the carbon cycle, aerosols, and clouds. That data is key to identifying the scope of climate changes in the Earth’s atmosphere.
The launch trajectory is roughly due south, so areas in southern Brevard County may hear louder than normal launch rumble, and it may last longer as the flying booster passes by.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on NASA+ and NASA Television about 45 minutes before liftoff.
Axiom-3 Landing Planned for Friday Near Daytona Beach
The Axiom-3 crew aboard the International Space Station Photo: Axiom Space
The return of the Axiom-3 crew has also been affected by windy conditions; SpaceX and Axiom Space have announced that the splashdown of the Dragon capsule should be around 7:25 AM Friday. AX-3 astronauts Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) Commander Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Walter Villadei, Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı, and Mission Specialist Marcus Wandt departed ISS at 9:20 AM EST today.
“We hope you had a wonderful time on station, and we’re looking forward to seeing your smiling faces,” SpaceX ground control told the astronauts as the departed ISS.
On Wednesday, February 7 at 9:20 a.m. ET, Dragon autonomously undocked from the International Space Station. After performing a series of burns to move away from the space station, Dragon will conduct multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, jettison its trunk, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately two days later on Friday, February 9.
Splashdown is currently planned for near Daytona Beach. That is subject to change, however, as wave height, wind and rain in the landing area must meet NASA and SpaceX’s criteria for the safe return and retrieval of the Dragon spacecraft.
Locally, it’s somewhat unlikely that most people in Brevard County will hear the sonic boom that heralds a returning spacecraft to Earth. Residents can see Crew Dragon streaking across the sky as it re-enters by looking northwards, relatively low to the horizon.
The planned launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) until NET Wednesday at 1:33 AM EST due to inclement weather. While NASA did not specifically cite which weather criteria created the need to delay, it almost certainly was due to high winds expected to build through the morning hours as a frontal boundary pushes through the Space Coast region.
NASA and SpaceX are standing down from the Feb. 6 launch of the agency’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission due to unfavorable weather conditions. NASA and SpaceX are now targeting launch at 1:33 a.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 7, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Both the PACE satellite and the Falcon 9 rocket remain healthy.
Live launch coverage will begin on NASA+ and NASA TV public channel at 12:45 a.m.
NASA: 9:53 PM February 5, 2024
PACE is an NASA Earth-observing satellite mission that will perform advanced observations of global ocean color, biogeochemistry, and ecology, as well as the carbon cycle, aerosols and clouds. That data is key to identifying the scope of climate changes in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Wednesday Morning Outlook
The 45th Weather Wing has issued a Probability of Violation forecast for the launch, giving it a 50/50 chance of being within acceptable conditions early tomorrow morning:
SpaceX and NASA are planning to launch a Falcon 9 from SLC-40 NET Tuesday morning at 1:33 AM EST. Weather may be a concern: the 45th Weather Squadron has yet to issue a Probability of Violation forecast, but the National Weather Service and other general forecast products are calling for a good chance of wind and rain at the planned launch time.
NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory is inspected and processed on a spacecraft dolly in a high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023 Photo: NASA
NASA and SpaceX technicians safely encapsulate NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 payload fairings on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (click to view full size) Photo: NASA
The payload for the mission is NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite. It is an Earth-observing instrument that will conduct observations of global ocean color, biogeochemistry, and ecology, as well as the carbon cycle, aerosols as well as as clouds.
According to NASA, “PACE’s data will help us better understand how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide. In addition, it will reveal how aerosols might fuel phytoplankton growth in the surface ocean. Novel uses of PACE data will benefit our economy and society. For example, it will help identify the extent and duration of harmful algal blooms. PACE will extend and expand NASA’s long-term observations of our living planet. By doing so, it will take Earth’s pulse in new ways for decades to come.”
Weather A Concern
Until the 45th Weather Squadron releases their official launch forecast, here’s the general weather forecast. Note that this forecast does not consider rocket launch weather criteria and should be used only for a very general look ahead:
Monday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. Windy, with a north northwest wind 15 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 65. Windy, with a north wind 25 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph.
Trajectory will be south, with the final destination being a Sun-synchronous orbit.
Via Flightclub.io
Sonic Boom Advisory
This will be an RTLS (Return To Launch Site) mission. Space Coast residents can expect a sonic boom to spread through the area after 1:42 AM. Remember that sound travels about five miles per second, so the exact time for the sonic boom’s arrival is dependent on your location’s distance to LZ-1.
In an email to media, SpaceX released the following:
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, February 6 at 1:33 a.m. ET for a Falcon 9 launch of NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission to a sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. If needed, a backup opportunity is available Wednesday, February 7 at the same time.
About eight minutes after liftoff, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. There is the possibility that residents of Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Indian River, Seminole, Volusia, Polk, St. Lucie, and Okeechobee County counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the landing, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.
SpaceX, February 5, 2024
SpaceX Falcon 9 with PACE aboard, February 5, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer
Booster
SpaceX will use Booster 1081 for this mission, which will be its fourth mission.
Timelapse of SpaceX/NASA Crew-6 Re-entry over Biolab Road in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in 2023. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX announced overnight that the expected return of the Axiom-3 astronauts aboard a Crew Dragon has been delayed.
SpaceX, Axiom Space, and NASA are targeting no earlier than Tuesday,
Dragon and the Ax-3 crew are now targeting no earlier than Tuesday, February 6 at 9:05 a.m. ET to undock from the [International Space Station.] Teams continue to keep an eye on recovery weather conditions
The company also added more information on their website:
February 6 at 9:05 a.m. ET for Dragon and the Ax-3 astronauts to depart from the International Space Station. After performing a series of burns to move away from the space station, Dragon will conduct multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, jettison its trunk, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately nine hours later the same day.
Photo: Lockheed Martin photography by Michael Jackson.
Many people forget this, but NASA’s first “A” is for “Aeronautics.”
The Agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) operates at a fraction of the budget as the space portion of NASA. Still, like the space side of the Agency, it does some pretty spectacular research. From winglets on commercial aircraft that save fuel to the X-15 — the first aircraft to reach the edge of space, ARMD has created incredible knowledge and value throughout its existence.
ARMD’s Newest Aircraft
One of the latest things that ARMD has done is build the X-59 supersonic aircraft, designed to be quieter than previous birds built to fly faster than sound (761 mph, or 1100 feet/second at sea level.)
“Looks Pretty, Flies Pretty”
Old aviator adage
According to them, “the X-59 was built to demonstrate the ability to fly supersonic, or faster than the speed of sound, while reducing the typically loud sonic boom produced by aircraft at such speeds to a quieter sonic “thump”. That sound is a familiar one to residents of the Space Coast: SpaceX Falcon 9 boosters returning to Cape Canaveral create a sonic boom to announce their arrival, and before that, the Space Shuttle did the same.
NASA ARMD have also made it clear that X-59 is an experimental, one of a kind plane that is designed to be an information gathering platform rather than serve as a prototype.
You must be logged in to post a comment.