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DannyB writes:

NASA reveals what the final X-57 all-electric X-plane will look like

NASA has released three concept art images showing its X-57 Maxwell all-electric X-plane in its final configuration. The first manned X-plane from NASA in two decades, the X-57 is shown in its Modification iV (Mod IV) form, which includes a high-aspect-ratio wing and 5-ft (1.5-m) diameter wingtip propellers to recover energy from wingtip vortices.

Designed to help develop certification standards that can be applied to electric aircraft as they come onto the market, the X-57 [has] 12 electric motor nacelles with individual propellers, plus two larger propellers on the wingtips.

[...] When it is fully developed, the X-57 could improve flight efficiency by 500 percent when cruising at high speed while generating no in-flight emissions and much less noise than conventional aircraft.

A 2m26s video is included at end of article. (Life At The Lab: All-Electric in the Air)

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