Son of Concorde

NASA’s X-59 - dubbed "Son of Concorde" is having final safety checks before making a historic maiden flight.  The futuristic jet is projected to cruise at Mach 1.5, or around 990mph, potentially cutting the transatlantic journey down to just three hours and 44 minutes. Standard commercial flights typically take seven to eight hours. On August 18, 2025, NASA X-59 maintenance teams conducted a crucial hydrazine safety check at U.S. Air Force Plant in Palmdale, California. Hydrazine, a highly corrosive chemical, poses significant health risks including skin burns and respiratory damage. Unlike Concorde, which rattled windows with ear-splitting booms, the X-59 is designed to produce only a muted “sonic thump” - a softer sound likened to a car door slamming across the street. The necessary research could finally end the 50-year ban on supersonic passenger flights over land. We had a commercial supersonic aircraft, the Concorde. But it was limited during its flights that it could not fly somewhere in the middle of the U.S. You were not allowed to fly supersonic over land. So most of the flights flew back and forth just over the ocean.  NASA hopes that the 99.7ft-long jet with a 29.7ft wingspan ‘Son of Concorde’ could usher in a new golden age of super-fast passenger travel, halving journey times across the Atlantic.