Rare look at Nasa’s first-ever ‘experimental’ X57 fully-electric airplane that could change flying forever

NASA has revealed concept images of its fully-electric airplane: the X-57 Maxwell.

These are the first images of the sci-fi jet in its "final configuration" – with an all-electric design, known internally as Modification IV.

Nasa hopes that the "experimental" jet will help speed up regulation for electric aircraft in the future.

It could make it easier to electric airplanes to become regulated – and start shipping people around the world for business or leisure.

"Electric aircraft present a wide array of potential benefits to aviation, including increased efficiency, reduced or eliminated in-flight carbon emissions, and flight that is quieter for communities on the ground," Nasa explained.

"X-57 will help set certification standards as these electric aircraft markets begin to emerge."

The X-57 will be Nasa's first piloted X-plane in two decades.

Space agency Nasa says the X-57 has a skinny high-aspect ratio wing that improves efficiency by reducing drag in flight.

And it's got electric cruise motors with five-foot propellers on the wingtips, which Nasa says can recover energy that would otherwise be lost.

There are a further 12 smaller "high-lift" motors and propellers on the leading edge of the wing, allowing the X-57 to take off at standard speeds.

"The high-lift motors and propellers are designed to activate, along with the wingtip cruise motors, to get the X-plane airborne," Nasa explained.

"When the plane levels out for cruise mode, the high-lift motors will then deactivate, and the five propeller blades for each motor will then stop rotating.

"And [they] will fold into the nacelles, so that they don’t create unwanted drag during cruise.

"The two wingtip cruise motors will maintain flight during this phase of the flight."

Nasa says that the X-57 should be able to achieve delivering zero carbon emissions in flight.

And the fact that the airplane uses electric propulsion should provide a "five-to-ten times reduction" in greenhouse gas emissions.

The X-57 can also run off electricity from renewable energy sources (like wind or solar) due to the fact that it's powered by a battery.

According to Nasa, the X-57 will have a critical take-off speed of 67mph, and a cruising speed of 172mph.

It will cruise at 8,000 feet and have a maximum operational altitude of 14,000 feet. That's far below the usual cruising altitudes of commercial airplanes – which would typically be between 33,000 and 42,000 feet – due to its small size.

But it's relatively light at 3,000 pounds, with a battery weight of around 860 pounds, according to a 2018 Nasa report.

Nasa recently said that it was hoping to launch its first flight test for the X-57 Maxwell no sooner than December this year, but no firm date has been revealed.

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