|
What will passenger airplanes be like in the future?
To help brain storm desirable and workable attributes, NASA sponsors
design competitions.
Shown here is an artist's depiction of a concept plane
that has been recently suggested.
This futuristic plane would be expected to achieve
supersonic speeds,
possibly surpassing the
speeds of the
supersonic transport planes that ran commercially in the late
twentieth century.
In terms of noise reduction, the future aircraft has been drawn featuring an
inverted
V wing stretched over its engines.
The structure is intended to
reduce the sound
from annoying sonic booms.
Additionally,
future airplanes would aim to have relatively little impact on
our environment, including
green limits
on pollution and fuel consumption.
Aircraft utilizing similar design concepts
might well become operational by the 2030s.
Credit:
NASA,
Lockheed Martin Co.
|
