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NASA, Google Award $1.35M For Ultra-Efficient Electric Aircraft

Posted by Soulskill on from the earning-green-by-being-green dept.

coondoggie writes "NASA today awarded what it called the largest prize in aviation history to a company that flew their aircraft 200 miles in less than two hours on less than one gallon of fuel or electric equivalent. Their aircraft is the Taurus G4 by Pipistrel-USA.com. The twin fuselage motor glider features a 145 kW electric motor, lithium-ion batteries, and retractable landing gear."

1 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Mars? Maybe? by BiggerIsBetter · · Score: 4, Informative

    Could such an aircraft be configured for mapping the surface of Mars?

    Try it and see. X-Plane lets you fly on Mars. Yes, there's a Linux version too, and you can find a bunch of electric (and/or rocket) aircraft for Mars on X-Plane.org.

    --
    Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.