To reduce carbon emissions from air travel and meet commitments to combat climate change, NASA and Boeing are teaming up to develop the environmentally friendly X-66 aircraft.
To create the X-66A, Boeing, together with NASA, modified the McDonnell Douglas MD-90 narrow-body passenger aircraft. Changes include a shorter body and longer, thinner wings with stabilizer diagonal struts. The Truss-Braced Wing concept was developed by Boeing.
The engines were also moved from the tail to the underwings and replaced with gas-electric models.
Combined with an advanced propulsion system and sophisticated system architecture, this configuration will reduce fuel consumption and associated emissions by 30% compared to commercial aircraft.
Development of the X-66 began in early 2019 as part of the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator (SFD) project.
Through this project, NASA Aeronautics is collaborating with industry, academia and other agencies to achieve net-zero emissions in aviation by 2050.
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