NASA researchers are working with industry and university partners to develop technologies and systems for future airplanes that will reduce noise, emissions and fuel consumption.
One design, the “double bubble” D8 airliner concept from a team led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., has just finished wind tunnel testing at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
MIT and NASA engineers put a 1/11th scale model through its paces in NASA Langley’s 14 by-22-Foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel. They were assessing among other things whether engines incorporated into the fuselage of the uniquely shaped airplane reduce drag. The research is part of the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s Fixed Wing project.
Pictured (l to r): Alejandra Uranga, research engineer and aeronautics MIT technical lead, and Mark Drela, professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT.
› Read More About D8 and Other Future Aircraft
