{"id":18199,"date":"2010-05-18T09:03:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-18T09:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/beauty-of-future-airplanes-is-more-than-skin-deep\/"},"modified":"2010-05-18T09:03:00","modified_gmt":"2010-05-18T09:03:00","slug":"beauty-of-future-airplanes-is-more-than-skin-deep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/space-station\/beauty-of-future-airplanes-is-more-than-skin-deep.php","title":{"rendered":"Beauty of Future Airplanes is More than Skin Deep"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><a href=\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/139ee_454178main_ng_downselect_pptslide_1600x1200_full.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"padding-left:10px; padding-right: 10px;\" src=\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/139ee_454178main_ng_downselect_pptslide_1600x1200_full.jpg\" alt=\"A 20-passenger commercial aircraft design concept\" border=\"0\"><\/a><span>An 18-month <span>NASA <\/span>research effort to visualize the passenger airplanes of  the future has produced some ideas that at first glance may appear to  be old fashioned. Instead of exotic new designs seemingly borrowed from  science fiction, familiar shapes dominate the pages of advanced concept  studies which four industry teams completed for <span>NASA's Fundamental  Aeronautics Program<\/span> in April 2010.<p><\/p><\/span><\/div><div><span>Look more closely at these concepts for airplanes that may enter service  20 to 25 years from now and you'll see things that are quite different  from the aircraft of today.<br><\/span><\/div><div><a href=\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/139ee_453747main_ge_rgb_1600x1200_1600-1200.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"padding-left:10px; padding-right: 10px;\" src=\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/139ee_453747main_ge_rgb_1600x1200_1600-1200.jpg\" alt=\"A 20-passenger commercial aircraft design concept\" border=\"0\"><\/a><span>Just beneath the skin of these concepts lie breakthrough airframe and  propulsion technologies designed to help the commercial aircraft of  tomorrow fly significantly quieter, cleaner, and more fuel-efficiently,  with more passenger comfort, and to more of America's airports.<p>You may see ultramodern shape memory alloys, ceramic or fiber  composites, carbon nanotube or fiber optic cabling, self-healing skin,  hybrid electric engines, folding wings, double fuselages and virtual  reality windows.<\/p><p>\"Standing next to the airplane, you may not be able to tell the  difference, but the improvements will be revolutionary,\" said Richard  Wahls, project scientist for the Fundamental Aeronautics Program's  Subsonic Fixed Wing Project at <span><a href=\"http:\/\/spacestation-shuttle.blogspot.com\/\">NASA<\/a>'s Langley Research Center <\/span>in  Hampton, Va. \"Technological beauty is more than skin deep.\"<br><\/p><\/span><\/div><p><a href=\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/b0191_453761main_ng_select_atw_final_1600x1200_full.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"padding-left:10px; padding-right: 10px;\" src=\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/b0191_453761main_ng_select_atw_final_1600x1200_full.jpg\" alt=\"The Silent Efficient Low Emissions Commercial Transport, or SELECT, design concept\" border=\"0\"><\/a><span>In October 2008, <span>NASA <\/span>asked industry and academia to imagine what the  future might bring and develop advanced concepts for aircraft that can  satisfy anticipated commercial air transportation needs while meeting  specific energy efficiency, environmental and operational goals in 2030  and beyond. The studies were intended to identify key technology  development needs to enable the envisioned advanced airframes and  propulsion systems.<\/span><\/p><p><span>NASA's goals for a 2030-era aircraft, compared with an aircraft entering  service today, are: <\/span><\/p><ul><li><span>A 71-decibel reduction below current Federal Aviation Administration  noise standards, which aim to contain objectionable noise within  airport boundaries.<\/span><\/li><li><span>A greater than 75 percent reduction on the International Civil  Aviation Organization's Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection  Sixth Meeting, or CAEP\/6, standard for nitrogen oxide emissions, which  aims to improve air quality around airports.<\/span><\/li><li><span>A greater than 70 percent reduction in fuel burn performance, which  could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of air travel.<\/span><\/li><li><span>The ability to exploit metroplex concepts that enable optimal use of  runways at multiple airports within metropolitan areas, as a means of  reducing air traffic congestion and delays.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><div><span>  The teams were led by General Electric, Massachusetts Institute of  Technology, Northrop Grumman and The Boeing Company. Here are some  highlights from their final reports: <\/span><\/div><ul><li><span>The GE Aviation team conceptualizes a 20-passenger aircraft that  could reduce congestion at major metropolitan hubs by using community  airports for point-to-point travel. The aircraft has an oval-shaped  fuselage that seats four across in full-sized seats. Other features  include an aircraft shape that smoothes the flow of air over all  surfaces, and electricity-generating fuel cells to power advanced  electrical systems. The aircraft's advanced turboprop engines sport  low-noise propellers and further mitigate noise by providing thrust  sufficient for short takeoffs and quick climbs.<\/span><\/li><li><span>With its 180-passenger D8 \"double bubble\" configuration, the  Massachusetts Institute of Technology team strays farthest from the  familiar, fusing two aircraft bodies together lengthwise and mounting  three turbofan jet engines on the tail. Important components of the MIT  concept are the use of composite  materials for lower weight and  turbofan engines with an ultra high bypass ratio (meaning air flow  through the core of the engine is even smaller, while air flow through  the duct surrounding the core is substantially larger, than in a  conventional engine) for more efficient thrust. In a reversal of current  design trends the MIT concept increases the bypass ratio by minimizing  expansion of the overall diameter of the engine and shrinking the  diameter of the jet exhaust instead. The team said it designed the D8 to  do the same work as a Boeing 737-800. The D8's unusual shape gives it a  roomier coach cabin than the 737.<\/span><\/li><li><span>The Northrop Grumman team foresees the greatest need for a smaller  120-passenger aircraft that is tailored for shorter runways in order to  help expand capacity and reduce delays. The team describes its Silent  Efficient Low Emissions Commercial Transport, or SELECT, concept as  \"revolutionary in its performance, if not in its appearance.\" Ceramic  composites, nanotechnology and shape memory alloys figure prominently in  the airframe and ultra high bypass ratio propulsion system  construction. The aircraft delivers on environmental and operational  goals in large part by using smaller airports, with runways as short as  5,000 feet, for a wider geographic distribution of air traffic.<\/span><\/li><li><span>The Boeing Company's Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research, or  SUGAR, team examined five concepts. The team's preferred concept, the  SUGAR Volt, is a twin-engine aircraft with hybrid propulsion technology,  a tube-shaped body and a truss-braced wing mounted to the top. Compared  to the typical wing used today, the SUGAR Volt wing is longer from tip  to tip, shorter from leading edge to trailing edge, and has less sweep.  It also may include hinges to fold the wings while parked close together  at airport gates. Projected advances in battery technology enable a  unique, hybrid turbo-electric propulsion system. The aircraft's engines  could use both fuel to burn in the engine's core, and electricity to  turn the turbofan when the core is powered down.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><div><span>  <span>NASA <\/span>did not specify future commercial air transportation needs as  domestic or global. All four teams focused on aircraft sized for travel  within a single continent because their business cases showed that  small- and medium-sized planes will continue to account for the largest  percentage of the overall fleet in the future. One team, however, did  present a large hybrid wing concept for intercontinental transport.<\/span><\/div><div><a href=\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/b0191_453735main_mit_d8-5_1600x1200_1600-1200.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"padding-left:10px; padding-right: 10px;\" src=\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/b0191_453735main_mit_d8-5_1600x1200_1600-1200.jpg\" alt=\"The double bubble D8 design concept\" border=\"0\"><\/a><span>All of the teams provided \"<span>clear paths<\/span>\" for future technology research  and development, said Ruben Del Rosario, principal investigator for the  Subsonic Fixed Wing Project at <span>NASA's Glenn Research Center <\/span>in  Cleveland. \"Their reports will make a difference in planning our  research portfolio. We will identify the common themes in these studies  and use them to build a more effective strategy for the future,\" Del  Rosario said.<p>These are some of the common themes from the four reports: <\/p><\/span><\/div><ul><li><span>Slower cruising -- at about Mach 0.7, or seven-tenths the speed of  sound, which is 5 percent to 10 percent slower than today's aircraft --  and at higher altitudes, to save fuel.<\/span><\/li><li><span>Engines that require less power on takeoff, for quieter flight.<\/span><\/li><li><span>Shorter runways -- about 5,000 feet long, on average -- to increase  operating capacity and efficiency.<\/span><\/li><li><span>Smaller aircraft &ndash; in the medium-size class of a Boeing 737, with  cabin accommodations for no more than 180 passengers &ndash; flying shorter  and more direct routes, for cost-efficiency.<\/span><\/li><li><span>Reliance on promised advancements in air traffic management such as  the use of automated decision-making tools for merging and spacing  enroute and during departure climbs and arrival descents.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><div><span>  The teams recommended a variety of improvements in lightweight composite  structures, heat- and stress-tolerant engine materials, and aerodynamic  modeling that can help bring their ideas to reality. <span>NASA <\/span>is weighing  the recommendations against its objective of developing aeronautics  technologies that can be applied to a broad range of aircraft and  operating scenarios for the greatest public benefit.<br><\/span><\/div><div><a href=\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/b0191_454150main_boeing_sugar_original_full.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"padding-left:10px; padding-right: 10px;\" src=\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/b0191_454150main_boeing_sugar_original_full.jpg\" alt=\"The Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research, or SUGAR, Volt design concept\" border=\"0\"><\/a><span>\"This input from our customers has provided us with well thought-out  scenarios for our vision of the future, and it will help us place our  research investment decisions squarely in the mainstream,\" said Jaiwon  Shin, associate administrator for aeronautics research at <span>NASA  Headquarters <\/span>in Washington.<p>\"Identifying those necessary technologies will help us establish a  research roadmap to follow in bringing these innovations to life during  the coming years,\" Shin said.<\/p><p>The next step in <span>NASA<\/span>'s effort to design the aircraft of 2030 is a  second phase of studies to begin developing the new technologies that  will be necessary to meet the national goals related to an improved air  transportation system with increased energy efficiency and reduced  environmental impact. The agency received proposals from the four teams  in late April and expects to award one or two research contracts for  work starting in 2011.<\/p><p><span>NASA managers<\/span> also will reassess the goals for 2030 aircraft to  determine whether some of the crucial technologies will need additional  time to move from laboratory and field testing into operational use. The  four teams managed to meet either the fuel burn or the noise goal with  their concepts, not both.<\/p><p>A companion research effort looked at concepts for a new generation of  supersonic transport aircraft capable of meeting NASA's noise, emissions  and fuel efficiency goals for 2030. <span>NASA envisions<\/span> a broader market for  supersonic travel, with aircraft carrying more passengers to improve  economic viability while meeting increasingly stringent environmental  requirements.<\/p><p>Teams lead by The Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin evaluated market  conditions, design goals and constraints, conventional and  unconventional configurations, and enabling technologies to create  proposed roadmaps for research and development activities. Both teams  produced concepts for aircraft that can carry more than 100 passengers  at cruise speeds of more than 1.6 Mach and a range of up to 5,000 miles.<\/p><p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/topics\/aeronautics\/features\/future_airplanes_index.html\">&rsaquo;   View Future Aircraft Image Gallery<\/a><br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/home\/hqnews\/2008\/oct\/HQ_C08-060_ARMD_contracts.html\">&rsaquo;   Read October 2008 News Release and Team Abstracts<\/a><\/p><p><span>View my blog's last three great articles...<\/span><br><\/p><\/span><\/div><ul><li><span><a href=\"http:\/\/spacestation-shuttle.blogspot.com\/2010\/05\/cassini-double-play-enceladus-and-titan.html\">Cassini  Double Play: Enceladus and Titan<\/a><\/span><\/li><li><span><a href=\"http:\/\/spacestation-shuttle.blogspot.com\/2010\/05\/dust-cloud-from-china-shows-how-we.html\">Dust  Cloud From China Shows How We Share the Air<\/a><\/span><\/li><li><span><a href=\"http:\/\/spacestation-shuttle.blogspot.com\/2010\/05\/earth-day-2010-with-bella-gaia.html\">Earth  Day 2010 with Bella Gaia<\/a><\/span><\/li><\/ul><hr><p><span>View this site <a href=\"http:\/\/www.movetransport.com\/\" title=\"auto transport\">auto transport<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.movetransport.com\/\" title=\"car shipping\">car shipping<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.movetransport.com\/\" title=\"car transport\">car transport<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/houstoncriminalattorney.com\/\" title=\"Houston criminal lawyer\">Houston criminal lawyer<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.budgetbusinessclass.com\/\" title=\"business class flights\">business class flights<\/a><\/span><\/p><hr><div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/b0191_1205796008215741128-663239574531649881?l=spacestation-shuttle.blogspot.com\" alt=\"\" style=\"padding-left:10px; padding-right: 10px;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An 18-month NASA research effort to visualize the passenger airplanes of the future has produced some ideas that at first glance may appear to be old fashioned. Instead of exotic new designs seemingly borrowed from science fiction, familiar shapes dominate &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/space-station\/beauty-of-future-airplanes-is-more-than-skin-deep.php\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-space-station"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18199"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}