Meet NASA’s New X-59 Test Pilot

NASA's X-59 experimental aircraft reached a major milestone Friday, June 5, when it flew faster than the speed of sound for the first time.

NASA added a new X-59 test pilot to support the agency's Quesst mission : Mike Lippert, a research test pilot based at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

"This fulfills a lifelong dream of conducting airborne research and experimental flight test for NASA in the high desert - contributing to humankind's understanding of the science of flight and the nature of the world around us," Lippert said.

Lippert will fly the X-59, along with the F-15 and F-18 support aircraft to monitor the quiet supersonic X-plane when it's in the air. He joins Nils Larson and Jim "Clue" Less, who have been flying the X-59 since its first flight in October 2025.

A South Carolina native, Lippert served 20 years with the U.S. Marine Corps before retiring last year as a lieutenant colonel. Like his fellow test pilots, he boasts an impressive flight resume, including logging more than 2,600 hours of flight time in 60 different types of aircraft.

Lippert said he finds test pilot work especially rewarding.

"For me, the joy of taking part in experimental flight test and airborne research is the experience of discovery and learning something new every day," he said. "It is incredibly rewarding to be part of a team solving complex problems and venturing into the unknown, together."

Lippert spent the majority of his career flying the AV-8B Harrier operationally and serving as a test pilot in the F-35 program. He is also an aerospace engineer, earning a bachelor's degree from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and a Master of Science in flight test engineering from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Additionally, he earned a Master of Science in systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Lippert is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Alabama Graduate School in Tuscaloosa, where his research focuses on high-speed gas dynamics, including supersonic and hypersonic fluid mechanics - complementing his work on the Quesst mission.

Lippert is busy preparing for his role at NASA by flying training flights on support aircraft and spending time in the X-59 simulator. He is expected to begin flying the X-59 later this summer.

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