Suggested Searches

Some Assembly Required: An X-59 Image Gallery

From placement of the first wing spars hinting at its shape, through to the finished, fully painted airplane making its public debut on Jan. 12, 2024, these images offer snapshots of how NASA's X-59 aircraft, with its quiet supersonic technology, came together at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works facility in California.

Lockheed Martin photography by Michael Jackson. 1011 Lockheed Way, Palmdale, California Event: X-59 First Part Placement. Date: 08 May, 2019...
The first part of the X-59 is lifted to make its way to the tooling structure for final assembly in Palmdale, California.
The general shape of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology airplane, including parts of its wing, can be seen in this...
A silver aluminum framework in a roughly triangular shape sits on a clean aircraft factory floor holding green and yellow metal spars that are the first pieces of the wing of NASA's X-59 experimental aircraft.
Part of a wing spar for NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology airplane is prepared for installation by a pair of...
Lockheed Martin technicians working on the wing spar for NASA's X-59.
The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology, or QueSST, wing assembly is lifted by a crane and moved to another area of...
The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) wing assembly at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, CA.
NASA is on a mission to revolutionize supersonic air travel for passengers across the globe. In this image, you’ll see...
X-59 Construction Reaches Halfway Point
The black rectangle panels are the air intakes for the environmental control system (ECS) that regulates the temperature, cabin pressure,...
Picture of the inside panels and framework of the X-59 aircraft.
Technicians at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works factory in Palmdale, California examine the cockpit section of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology...
Technicians examining the cockpit section of NASA’s X-59 plane.
The vertical tail of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology airplane is unpacked from its shipping crate after delivery to Lockheed...
The vertical stabilizer being unpacked from its shipping crate.
The wing and cockpit sections of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) are coming together at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works®...
The wing and cockpit sections of NASA’s X-59 QueSST getting assembled.
The F414-GE-100 engine, which will power NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology X-plane (QueSST) in flight, is unboxed at NASA’s Armstrong...
The F414-GE-100 engine that will power NASA's X-59 is unboxed at AFRC
The F414-GE-100 engine, which will power NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology X-plane (QueSST) in flight, is unboxed at NASA’s Armstrong...
The F414-GE-100 engine that will power NASA's X-59 is unboxed at AFRC
NASA’s X-59 has undergone final installation of its lower empennage, better known as the tail assembly. NASA’s X-59 has undergone...
Back-side view of the X-59 tail with a red cover over the engine nozzle. The red plug or covering protects the engine by creating a barrier so that foreign objects cannot enter the engine or engine inlet.
NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology aircraft (QueSST) is pictured here at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in California, wrapped up in...
X-59 wrapped with a red bow to prepare for it's move to Texas.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company - Fort Worth - Chris Hanoch Subject: X-59 - Various Angles in Test Fixture FP#: 21-03420...
NASA’s X-59 undergoes structural stress tests at a Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas.
The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft is taking shape at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California....
The X-59 being assembled at the Lockheed Martin facility.
The NASA and Lockheed Martin team behind the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) have recently removed the aircraft from its...
The X-59 is free from its structural support jig for the first time.
Technicians check out the X-59 aircraft as it sits near the runway at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California,...
The X-59 being guided into Stall 5.
A view looking into the hangar where NASA's X-59 is parked.
A view looking into the hangar where NASA's X-59 is parked.
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California during sunrise,...
In this photo, NASA’s X-59 aircraft is shown at sunrise at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. Open desert can be seen behind the aircraft. The X-59’s design features a long nose, approximately one-third of the aircraft’s nearly 100-foot length, swept-back wings, and an engine mounted on top and toward the rear of the fuselage.
NASA and Lockheed Martin publicly unveil the X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft at a ceremony in Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works...
Members of an audience lift their phones to snap a photo of the recently revealed X-59 aircraft. The plane's long, sharp nose appears to jut out towards the audience.