Quieter
Right now, the rules say commercial planes can't fly faster than the speed of sound because of concerns about sonic booms. The X-59 is designed to reduce sonic booms to a quiet thump.
Quesst
The X-59 QueSST aircraft is only part of the mission.
The X-59 will fly over several cities in the U.S. as early as 2024 to help NASA collect data on the public’s perception to the quieter "sonic thump."
An artist's view of what the X-59 flying over a city will look like.