Supersonic passenger airplanes are another step closer to reality as NASA and Lockheed Martin began the first high-speed wind tunnel tests for the Quiet Supersonic Technology, or QueSST, X-plane preliminary design here at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. In this time-lapse, engineers assemble a scale model of the design and install it in Glenn’s 8 x 6ft supersonic wind tunnel. Over the next eight weeks, engineers will expose the model to wind speeds ranging from Mach 0.3 to 1.6 to understand the aerodynamics of the X-plane design as well as aspects of the propulsion system.
