NASA quesst mission—Site selection process for community testing

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has committed to deliver data to the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (ICAO CAEP) defining community response to sounds from supersonic aircraft designed such that their sonic boom is replaced with a soft “thump” sound. NASA is developing the X-59, a unique research aircraft capable of quiet supersonic flight, and will use the aircraft in a series of four to six community overflight tests (2024–2026) to measure acoustic levels of its “sonic thump” and related public response in support of the agency’s commitment to ICAO. Unlike most NASA flight research, which is conducted primarily at the agency’s facilities, the community tests will occur at various locations across the contiguous United States and involve flight over the general population in order to obtain a nationally-representative dataset. The process for identifying both the airfields and community test locations involves multiple operational and technical considerations relative to both aircraft and data collection requirements, including flight operations, geographic, and climate diversity as well as population demographics. This presentation provides an overview of the ongoing selection process being applied to address those considerations while ultimately ensuring an representative community response dataset.