NASA Designates Boeing's Transonic Truss-braced Wing Concept As An X-Plane
Work to prove technologies that could reduce carbon emissions from airliner flights are being stepped up under the White House’s U.S. Aviation Climate Action Plan.
NASA has designated the next-generation single-aisle airliner concept it is jointly working on with Boeing as the X-66A. In a June 12 statement, the agency said Boeing will now build, test and fly a full-scale demonstrator aircraft, featuring extra-long, thin wings attached to the fuselage with diagonal struts the partners refer to as the transonic truss-braced wing concept.
Under the White House’s U.S. Aviation Climate Action Plan, the X-66A is the first NASA X-plane program to be specifically focused on efforts to achieve net zero carbon emissions from air transport. The program is supported by the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, for which NASA announced a contract earlier this year.
