NASA Completes X-59 eXternal Vision System Tests

NASA’s Langley Research Center has completed its final round of testing on the eXternal Vision System (XVS) for the agency’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft. According to NASA, the system has already been shipped to X-59 builder Lockheed Martin for installation. Designed to replace a forward-facing window, the XVS is a camera and display system aimed at providing “an augmented reality view of the X-59 pilot’s forward line-of-sight along with graphical flight data overlays.”

“The QueSST aircraft is on a mission to achieve supersonic speeds over land that create no more than a sonic 'thump' to those below,” NASA said. “In order to achieve this, NASA engineers have designed a uniquely shaped aircraft with an elongated nose that requires the cockpit to sit low in the main body of the aircraft, leaving no place for a forward-facing window.”

As previously reported by AVweb, NASA announced that X-59 assembly had reached the halfway point last December. The QueSST aircraft is expected to complete its first flight next year. NASA has said it is planning to begin noise testing on the X-59 in 2023 followed by a series of flights to gauge community responses to the aircraft’s sound in 2024.