NASA's X-59 has finally taken flight.

The X-59 is NASA's experimental new jet built to break the sound barrier without generating the thunderous sonic booms typically associated with supersonic flight.

After taxiing out of the U.S. Air Force's (USAF) Plant 42 facility, the X-59 took off from the Palmdale Regional Airport in California today (Oct. 28) at 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 GMT), according to aircraft tracker Flightradar24. The airport and USAF facility share a runway.

NASA did not announce the flight publicly, nor has the agency issued a statement following its flight (likely due to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown).

But videos and photos were posted to social media by aircraft spotters and photographers, showing the radically elongated X-59 taking off before flying north out of P

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