ALT NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft reached its target speed and altitude for future community overflights for the first time during a flight on Friday, June 12, 2026. The milestone marked the first time the aircraft flew at Mach 1.4 and 55,000 feet — conditions it will fly when gathering community response data to its quiet sonic thump.

ALT The Ames Electric Arc Shock Tube (EAST) facility is the only shock tube in the U.S. capable of simulating shock-heated gas environments at very high enthalpies encountered by atmospheric entry vehicles. The facility generates conditions for measurements of spectrally resolved radiance and kinetics of shock-heated gases from the vacuum ultraviolet through mid-infrared.

ALT The Ames Electric Arc Shock Tube (EAST) facility is the only shock tube in the U.S. capable of simulating shock-heated gas environments at very high enthalpies encountered by atmospheric entry vehicles. The facility generates conditions for measurements of spectrally resolved radiance and kinetics of shock-heated gases from the vacuum ultraviolet through mid-infrared.

ALT Ryan Chung inputs the gas mixture to be inserted in the tube as part of the test procedure at The Ames Electric Arc Shock Tube (EAST) facility.

ALT NASA’s X‑59 eXternal Vision System digital display shows green flight data overlaid on the forward scenery as the aircraft flies supersonic. Numerical indicators, horizon references, and a Mach‑number readout are visible on the screen.

ALT Athena, NASA’s newest supercomputer, is housed at the agency’s Modular Supercomputing Facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. NASA/Brandon Torres-Navarrete

ALT Greg Chow removes a module from an Athena modular supercomputer rack in the Modular Supercomputing Facility (MSF) in R&D 99.

ALT Greg Chow removes components from a module of the Athena modular supercomputer in the Modular Supercomputing Facility (MSF) in R&D99.

ALT An infographic about the Roman Space Telescope, titled "Capturing The Big Picture: What Roman Will Reveal." Various boxes beneath highlight that Roman will observe, for example, "80,000 supernovae" and "billions of galaxies". Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

ALT James Thompson, an assistant research professor at University of Texas at Austin and a principal investigator with NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office, tests out locations on a fire dozer where the FireTIRS thermal infrared imager could be mounted. Thompson was part of a stakeholder event held between NASA’s FireSense project and the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC), which included demonstrating thermal sensors on the AFC’s fire dozers.

ALT Alabama Forestry Commission wildland firefighter Jason Berry teaches NASA Wildland Fires Technology Program Manager Teresa Kauffman how to drive a fire bulldozer during a stakeholder event April 23-24 in Andalusia, Alabama. NASA FireSense scientists have been working with the AFC to integrate thermal sensors onto these dozers, which notify the dozer operator if the radiant heat from a nearby fire reaches a dangerous threshold. NASA/Milan Loiacono

ALT NASA Wildland Fires Program science integration manager Jennifer Fowler holds an LED light on the dashboard of a fire dozer belonging to the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC).Image Credit: NASA/Milan Loiacono

ALT A full moon hangs against the blackness of space as Earth's atmosphere glows in multiple shades of blue in this image captured from aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

ALT The Artemis II mission patch is seen on the right shoulder of four orange Orion Crew Survival System suits on Jan. 17, 2026, in the suit-up room of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission patch contains imagery of the Moon and the Earth. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

ALT Earth is illuminated against the blackness of space in this photo taken by an Artemis II crew member through an Orion spacecraft window on the second day of the mission. Credit: NASA

ALT This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 357° in 2006. The picture shows the Tharsis face of Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

ALT This image taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 1, 2000, shows details of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and other features that were not visible in images taken earlier, when Cassini was farther from Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

ALT Saturn and its rings completely fill the field of view of Cassini's narrow angle camera in this natural color image taken on March 27, 2004. This was the last single 'eyeful' of Saturn and its rings achievable with the narrow angle camera on approach to the planet. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

ALT A crescent Earth appears on the right side of the image, while the gray, heavily cratered surface of the Moon is visible at left. Blue water and white clouds are visible in the little bit of Earth that we can see. Credit: NASA