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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft is seen during its “aluminum bird” systems testing at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. The test verified how the aircraft’s hardware and software work together, responding to pilot inputs and handling injected system failures. Lockheed Martin / Garry Tice NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft successfully completed a critical series of tests in which the airplane was put through its paces for cruising high above the California desert – all without ever leaving the ground.
“The idea behind these tests is to command the airplane’s subsystems and flight computer to function as if it is flying,” said Yohan Lin, the X-59’s lead avionics engineer at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
The goal of ground-based simulation testing was to make sure the hardware and software that will allow the X-59 to fly safely are properly working together and able to handle any unexpected problems.
Any new aircraft is a combination of systems, and identifying the little adjustments required to optimize performance is an important step in a disciplined approach toward flight.
“We thought we might find a few things during the tests that would prompt us to go back and tweak them to work better, especially with some of the software, and that’s what we wound up experiencing. So, these tests were very helpful,” Lin said.
Completing the tests marks another milestone off the checklist of things to do before the X-59 makes its first flight this year, continuing NASA’s Quesst mission to help enable commercial supersonic air travel over land.
Simulating the Sky
During the testing, engineers from NASA and contractor Lockheed Martin turned on most of the X-59’s systems, leaving the engine off. For example, if the pilot moved the control stick a certain way, the flight computer moved the aircraft’s rudder or other control surfaces, just as it would in flight.
At the same time, the airplane was electronically connected to a ground computer that sends simulated signals – which the X-59 interpreted as real – such as changes in altitude, speed, temperature, or the health of various systems.
Sitting in the cockpit, the pilot “flew” the aircraft to see how the airplane would respond.
“These were simple maneuvers, nothing too crazy,” Lin said. “We would then inject failures into the airplane to see how it would respond. Would the system compensate for the failure? Was the pilot able to recover?”
Unlike in typical astronaut training simulations, where flight crews do not know what scenarios they might encounter, the X-59 pilots mostly knew what the aircraft would experience during every test and even helped plan them to better focus on the aircraft systems’ response.
NASA test pilot James Less sits in the cockpit of the X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft as he participates in a series of “aluminum bird” systems tests at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California.Lockheed Martin / Garry Tice Aluminum vs. Iron
In aircraft development, this work is known as “iron bird” testing, named for a simple metal frame on which representations of the aircraft’s subsystems are installed, connected, and checked out.
Building such a testbed is a common practice for development programs in which many aircraft will be manufactured. But since the X-59 is a one-of-a-kind airplane, officials decided it was better and less expensive to use the aircraft itself.
As a result, engineers dubbed this series of exercises “aluminum bird” testing, since that’s the metal the X-59 is mostly made of.
So, instead of testing an “iron bird” with copies of an aircraft’s systems on a non-descript frame, the “aluminum bird” used the actual aircraft and its systems, which in turn meant the test results gave everyone higher confidence in the design,
“It’s a perfect example of the old tried and true adage in aviation that says ‘Test what you fly. Fly what you test,’” Lin said.
Still Ahead for the X-59
With aluminum bird testing in the rearview mirror, the next milestone on the X-59’s path to first flight is take the airplane out on the taxiways at the airport adjacent to Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, where the X-59 was built. First flight would follow those taxi tests.
Already in the X-59’s logbook since the fully assembled and painted airplane made its public debut in January 2024:
A Flight Readiness Review in which a board of independent experts from across NASA completed a study of the X-59 project team’s approach to safety for the public and staff during ground and flight testing. A trio of important structural tests and critical inspections that included “shaking” the airplane to make sure there were no unexpected problems from the vibrations. Firing up the GE Aerospace jet engine for the first time after installation into the X-59, including a series of tests of the engine running with full afterburner. Checking the wiring that ties together the X-59’s flight computer, electronic systems, and other hardware to be sure there were no concerns about electromagnetic interference. Testing the aircraft’s ability to maintain a certain speed while flying, essentially a check of the X-59’s version of cruise control. The X-59 Tests in 59
Watch this video about the X-59 aluminum bird testing. It only takes a minute. Well, 59 seconds to be precise. About the Author
Jim Banke
Managing Editor/Senior WriterJim Banke is a veteran aviation and aerospace communicator with more than 40 years of experience as a writer, producer, consultant, and project manager based at Cape Canaveral, Florida. He is part of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications Team and is Managing Editor for the Aeronautics topic on the NASA website.
Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More
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Last Updated May 15, 2025 EditorJim BankeContactMatt Kamletmatthew.r.kamlet@nasa.gov Related Terms
Aeronautics Advanced Air Vehicles Program Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Ames Research Center Armstrong Flight Research Center Commercial Supersonic Technology Glenn Research Center Integrated Aviation Systems Program Langley Research Center Low Boom Flight Demonstrator Quesst (X-59) Quesst: The Vehicle Supersonic Flight View the full article
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Chaitén Volcano in southern Chile erupted on May 2, 2008 for the first time inn 9,000 years. NASA satellites that monitor changes in vegetation near volcanoes could aid in earlier eruption warnings.Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientists know that changing tree leaves can indicate when a nearby volcano is becoming more active and might erupt. In a new collaboration between NASA and the Smithsonian Institution, scientists now believe they can detect these changes from space.
As volcanic magma ascends through the Earth’s crust, it releases carbon dioxide and other gases which rise to the surface. Trees that take up the carbon dioxide become greener and more lush. These changes are visible in images from NASA satellites such as Landsat 8, along with airborne instruments flown as part of the Airborne Validation Unified Experiment: Land to Ocean (AVUELO).
Ten percent of the world’s population lives in areas susceptible to volcanic hazards. People who live or work within a few miles of an eruption face dangers that include ejected rock, dust, and surges of hot, toxic gases. Further away, people and property are susceptible to mudslides, ashfalls, and tsunamis that can follow volcanic blasts. There’s no way to prevent volcanic eruptions, which makes the early signs of volcanic activity crucial for public safety. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA’s Landsat mission partner, the United States is one of the world’s most volcanically active countries.
Carbon dioxide released by rising magma bubbles up and heats a pool of water in Costa Rica near the Rincón de LaVieja volcano. Increases in volcanic gases could be a sign that a volcano is becoming more active.Josh Fisher/Chapman University When magma rises underground before an eruption, it releases gases, including carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. The sulfur compounds are readily detectable from orbit. But the volcanic carbon dioxide emissions that precede sulfur dioxide emissions – and provide one of the earliest indications that a volcano is no longer dormant – are difficult to distinguish from space.
The remote detection of carbon dioxide greening of vegetation potentially gives scientists another tool — along with seismic waves and changes in ground height—to get a clear idea of what’s going on underneath the volcano. “Volcano early warning systems exist,” said volcanologist Florian Schwandner, chief of the Earth Science Division at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, who had teamed up with Fisher and Bogue a decade ago. “The aim here is to make them better and make them earlier.”
“Volcanoes emit a lot of carbon dioxide,” said volcanologist Robert Bogue of McGill University in Montreal, but there’s so much existing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that it’s often hard to measure the volcanic carbon dioxide specifically. While major eruptions can expel enough carbon dioxide to be measurable from space with sensors like NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2, detecting these much fainter advanced warning signals has remained elusive. “A volcano emitting the modest amounts of carbon dioxide that might presage an eruption isn’t going to show up in satellite imagery,” he added.
Gregory Goldsmith from Chapman University launches a slingshot into the forest canopy to install a carbon dioxide sensor in the canopy of a Costa Rican rainforest near the Rincón de LaVieja volcano.Josh Fisher/Chapman University Because of this, scientists must trek to volcanoes to measure carbon dioxide directly. However, many of the roughly 1,350 potentially active volcanoes worldwide are in remote locations or challenging mountainous terrain. That makes monitoring carbon dioxide at these sites labor-intensive, expensive, and sometimes dangerous.
Volcanologists like Bogue have joined forces with botanists and climate scientists to look at trees to monitor volcanic activity. “The whole idea is to find something that we could measure instead of carbon dioxide directly,” Bogue said, “to give us a proxy to detect changes in volcano emissions.”
“There are plenty of satellites we can use to do this kind of analysis,” said volcanologist Nicole Guinn of the University of Houston. She has compared images collected with Landsat 8, NASA’s Terra satellite, ESA’s (European Space Agency) Sentinel-2, and other Earth-observing satellites to monitor trees around the Mount Etna volcano on the coast of Sicily. Guinn’s study is the first to show a strong correlation between tree leaf color and magma-generated carbon dioxide.
Confirming accuracy on the ground that validates the satellite imagery is a challenge that climate scientist Josh Fisher of Chapman University is tackling with surveys of trees around volcanoes. During the March 2025 Airborne Validation Unified Experiment: Land to Ocean mission with NASA and the Smithsonian Institution scientists deployed a spectrometer on a research plane to analyze the colors of plant life in Panama and Costa Rica.
Alexandria Pivovaroff of Occidental College measures photosynthesis in leaves extracted from trees exposed to elevated levels of carbon dioxide near a volcano in Costa Rica.Josh Fisher/Chapman University Fisher directed a group of investigators who collected leaf samples from trees near the active Rincon de la Vieja volcano in Costa Rica while also measuring carbon dioxide levels. “Our research is a two-way interdisciplinary intersection between ecology and volcanology,” Fisher said. “We’re interested not only in tree responses to volcanic carbon dioxide as an early warning of eruption, but also in how much the trees are able to take up, as a window into the future of the Earth when all of Earth’s trees are exposed to high levels of carbon dioxide.”
Relying on trees as proxies for volcanic carbon dioxide has its limitations. Many volcanoes feature climates that don’t support enough trees for satellites to image. In some forested environments, trees that respond differently to changing carbon dioxide levels. And fires, changing weather conditions, and plant diseases can complicate the interpretation of satellite data on volcanic gases.
Chapman University visiting professor Gaku Yokoyama checks on the leaf-measuring instrumentation at a field site near the Rincón de LaVieja volcano.Josh Fisher/Chapman University Still, Schwandner has witnessed the potential benefits of volcanic carbon dioxide observations first-hand. He led a team that upgraded the monitoring network at Mayon volcano in the Philippines to include carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide sensors. In December 2017, government researchers in the Philippines used this system to detect signs of an impending eruption and advocated for mass evacuations of the area around the volcano. Over 56,000 people were safely evacuated before a massive eruption began on January 23, 2018. As a result of the early warnings, there were no casualties.
Using satellites to monitor trees around volcanoes would give scientists earlier insights into more volcanoes and offer earlier warnings of future eruptions. “There’s not one signal from volcanoes that’s a silver bullet,” Schwandner said. “And tracking the effects of volcanic carbon dioxide on trees will not be a silver bullet. But it will be something that could change the game.”
By James Riordon
NASA’s Earth Science News Team
Media contact: Elizabeth Vlock
NASA Headquarters
About the Author
James R. Riordon
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Last Updated May 15, 2025 LocationAmes Research Center Related Terms
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