NASA X-59 pilot Nils Larson receives top test-pilot award
NASA’s X-59 program has another milestone in 2026: test pilot Nils Larson received the Iven C. Kincheloe Award for his work on the quiet-supersonic aircraft.
The award recognizes Larson’s role in the X-59’s first flight and in expanding the aircraft’s flight envelope during its testing program.
The development is part of the same X-59 cluster that is already drawing search visibility for Mach 1.53 and the aircraft’s recent test flights.
NASA X-59 pilot receives major test-flight award
NASA says Larson received the Iven C. Kincheloe Award after helping lead the X-59 through its first flight and safely expanding the aircraft’s envelope to Mach 1.4 at 55,000 feet.
NASA says he is the first recipient in 44 years to receive the award for a NASA test-flight project.
What happens next for the X-59
The X-59 remains in active flight testing. NASA is using the aircraft to validate technology intended to replace the traditional loud sonic boom with a quieter sonic thump.
The broader Quesst mission is designed to generate data that may eventually support new rules for commercial supersonic flight over land.
