NASA Turns On The X-59 Aircraft Engine For The First Time

The tested X-59 aircraft (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA NASA has gone through an important milestone in carrying out the Quiet SuperSonic Tech (Quist) mission to demonstrate the X59 aircraft. The space agency has been working on a trial of the engine.

NASA explained that the team that developed the supersonic aircraft had been testing it in stages. In the first phase, the X-59 engine was tested to rotate at low speed without firing it. At this stage, the team wants to make sure there is no engine leak.

After making sure the entire system works well, the NASA team continues testing it with charged fuel. When the engine starts, the team starts upgrading its power to verify that engines and other aircraft systems are operating without problems.

Jay Brandon, NASA's Chief Technician X-59, said that the first phase was just a engine warm-up. After making sure the engine is not in trouble, the team will switch to the actual engine lighting stage.

"(stage) it removes the machine from the preservative mode it has been doing since it was installed on the plane. It was the first inspection to ensure that the engine was operating properly and that all the systems affected by the hydrophilomy, electrical system, environmental control system appeared to be functioning", Jay said.

The X-59 aircraft uses a modified F414-GE-100 engine to generate up to 22,000 pounds of thrust. That way, X-59 can explore the sky at a speed of 925 miles per hour at an altitude of 55,000 feet.

F414-GE-100 is stationed at the top of the plane so that this aircraft has no sound. This engine placement can also produce a slower engine when the aircraft is flying faster than the speed of sound.

After completing the engine testing stage, the X-59 team will switch to aluminum bird testing. At this stage, the team will pass data to the aircraft in two conditions, namely normal and failure, before continuing the taxi testing stage or being moved on land.