X-planes: Are they needed in the new era of drones?
X-planes: Are they needed in the new era of drones?Image source, NASA/Carla ThomasImage caption, The long nose of the X-59 is designed to damped the plane's sonic boomByMichael DempseyTechnology ReporterPublished1 minute agoThere's a weird and wonderful jet flying over the US. It has the nose of anteater, parts cannibalised from other planes and a cockpit so far back the pilot depends on a camera to see where he's going.This contraption, the X-59, might just be the future of air travel.The X-59's owes its eccentric design to the problem of sonic booms. It's the latest in a series of experimental Nasa aircraft dating back to 1947 and the first plane to break the sound barrier, the Bell X-1.Peter Coen, a 43-year Nasa veteran who manages the programme, explains the thinking behind 80 years of X-planes.
- ▪X-planes: Are they needed in the new era of drones?Image source, NASA/Carla ThomasImage caption, The long nose of the X-59 is designed to damped the plane's sonic boomByMichael DempseyTechnology ReporterPublished1 minute agoThere's a weird
- ▪It has the nose of anteater, parts cannibalised from other planes and a cockpit so far back the pilot depends on a camera to see where he's going.This contraption, the X-59, might just be the future of air travel.The X-59's owes its eccentr
- ▪It's the latest in a series of experimental Nasa aircraft dating back to 1947 and the first plane to break the sound barrier, the Bell X-1.Peter Coen, a 43-year Nasa veteran who manages the programme, explains the thinking behind 80 years o
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| Publication time | Thu, 24 Sep 2026 23:03:53 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-24T23:05:28.384Z |
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X-planes: Are they needed in the new era of drones?Image source, NASA/Carla ThomasImage caption, The long nose of the X-59 is designed to damped the plane's sonic boomByMichael DempseyTechnology ReporterPublished1 minute agoThere's a weird and wonderful jet flying over the US. It has the nose of anteater, parts cannibalised from other planes and a cockpit so far back the pilot depends on a camera to see where he's going.This contraption, the X-59, might just be the future of air travel.The X-59's owes its eccentric design to the problem of sonic booms.
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