National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released 3 airplane design concepts on their official website last January 13, 2011.
According to NASA, three teams, namely Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and The Boeing Company were awarded contracts to “study advanced concept designs for aircraft that could take to the skies in the year 2025.”
Final designs of the airplane must meet NASA‘s goal for less noise, lower fuel consumption and cleaner exhaust. According to reports, the aircraft must be able to do all those things, resulting to a complex dance of tradeoffs between all of the new advanced technologies that will be put on these airplanes.
NASA also requires the design to fly up to 85 percent at the speed of sound, cover a range of about 7,000 miles and carry 50,000 to 100,000 pounds of payload, either cargo or passengers.
The following pictures are the released artist’s concept of the aircraft from the three teams:
Image Credit: NASA / Lockheed Martin
Image Credit: NASA / The Boeing Company
Image Credit: NASA / Northrop Grumman
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