my name is kurt long i work on NASA's X-59 i'm an aerospace engineer my main job is to help design
develop and test the pilot's life support system the oxygen that the pilot's going to breathe while
we fly i also help out a little bit with flight test planning and execution once the aircraft is
built so many people don't know in the ejection seat for the x-59 it has to sustain the pilot in
the unlikely event that the pilot has to eject if you eject at a high altitude the pilot's going to
fall for five or six minutes before they get down to an altitude where they can breathe
so we have to make sure there's enough emergency oxygen contained within the seat so the pilot can
breathe the whole way down i am a mentor and i do get to work with a lot of really talented students
i think a lot of students are drawn to X-59 because it does represent the future
and i think it's a lot of hands-on work this is a real aircraft that's really going to exist
and the students they see that hey i actually can have an absolute say in the development of a truly
truly game-changing bit of technology when i'm not working i do like to take vacations that sort of
go a little bit more extreme and in particular i go on vacation to collect stories i'm a big fan
of life is all about collecting stories going and trying things that are a little bit outside
your comfort zone because it teaches you a little bit about yourself and makes you more confident
to go do other things as well i love a lot of outdoor activities most every one of them
relates to either wind or water i like flying gliders i like sailing i sail an awful lot
aviation safety in general both commercial and military has has improved tremendously leaps and
bounds in the three or more decades that i've been working in aviation we have lowest accident rates
today than have ever been in existence with X-59 we plan on keeping those accident rates incredibly
incredibly low non-existent is what we're shooting for and i think we're just about there here we are
getting very close to X-59's first flight i know myself and everybody else is going to be really
excited that day when we see it actually the wheels leave the ground looking forward to it