In a release published Sept. 28, 2026, NASA recounted that five engineers from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics arrived at Muroc Army Airfield in California's high desert on Sept. 30, 1946. Within less than two years, the agency said, NACA flew the X-1 faster than the speed of sound. That outpost is now NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, where the X-59 supersonic X-plane is being flown to show that supersonic flight need not produce a boom.

According to the release, Armstrong has supported missions including space shuttle landings and SR-71 flights over its 80-year history. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman recently named it the agency's Center of Excellence for Flight Test and Aircraft Operations. The center uses research aircraft for Artemis work: a 737 for astronaut suit testing, a G-III for Artemis II heat-shield data collection and an F/A-18 that tested the SLS autopilot. The X-59 was described as undergoing testing and a series of flights ahead of planned quiet supersonic demonstrations over U.S. communities.

The release said Armstrong, which also flies ER-2, C-20A and Gulfstream aircraft for science data, works with government agencies, industry and academia on safer and more efficient flight. These are the center's statements as of the publication date.