A Major Milestone for the X-59

NASA has reached a major milestone. The team putting together NASA's X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology airplane at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works factory in Palmdale, California, finished major work on the wing. The wing section is considered the structural backbone of the aircraft. The X-59 team closed parts of the wing's interior that are intended to never be touched again by human hands. Moving at a steady pace, technicians continue to work on many parts of the aircraft simultaneously. The forebody section of the aircraft will carry the pilot needed to fly the aircraft and all the avionics. The aft part of the aircraft will hold an F414 GE engine and other critical systems. The assembly process will continue as the team pushes to the next major milestone, which is merging all three major sections of the aircraft in the spring of 2021.