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NASA's Next-Generation Airplane Concepts

Posted by timothy on from the well-the-military-industrial-complex's dept.

faisy writes "NASA has taken the wraps off three concept designs for quiet, energy efficient aircraft that could potentially be ready to fly as soon as 2025. The designs come from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and The Boeing Company. In the final months of 2010, each of these companies won a contract from NASA to research and test their concepts during 2011."

3 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. Uh good job linking to a spamblog by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    A spamblog with two boring images. Bravo, editors.

  2. Actual article link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.nasa.gov/topics/aeronautics/features/flight_2025.html

  3. Re:Old hat? by sapphire+wyvern · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually it looks like the Lockheed proposal is two-engined. I posted this comment downthread, but there's a pretty good chance it'll just get buried down there, so I thought I'd post it here too.

    Here's a larger picture. Notice how the engine is mounted on a fin that does not emerge vertically from the tail of the aircraft. The engine mount comes out of the fuselage at an angle, and then curves up towards the vertical through the space occupied by the engine. If you look at the bottom of the fuselage, you can just make out the edge of a second engine's bluish cowling. It's mounted on the other side, also angled out from the aircraft, but almost completely obscured by the fuselage because of the point of view of the image.

    I don't think they chose a very good camera angle for showing off the concept.