NASA to tear the wings off plane in the name of sustainability

NASA has named the MD-90 jetliner it will rebuild with a radical new type of wing support in an effort to develop technology that reduces CO2 emissions.

The MD-90, like the 737s and A320s that dominate the world’s commercial airline fleets, is a single-aisle twinjet. NASA thinks planes of that sort can be made more efficient with a “transonic truss-braced wing configuration”. It’s therefore acquired an old MD-90, and on Tuesday named it the X-66A.

The plane is in for a rough time. NASA plans to shorten the fuselage and attach “long, thin wings with engines mounted underneath and a set of aerodynamic trusses for support.”

Those trusses look something like this:

“The X-66A will help shape the future of aviation, a new era where aircraft are greener, cleaner, and quieter, and create new possibilities for the flying public and American industry alike,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson.

“To reach our goal of net-zero aviation emissions by 2050, we need transformative aircraft concepts like the ones we’re flying on the X-66A,” said Bob Pearce, associate administrator for NASA’s aeronautics research mission directorate.

Learn more: The Register