NASA shows what the X-66 experimental aircraft will look like as part of a project with Boeing

NASA and Boeing are still in the early stages of creating an environmentally friendly experimental airplane, the X-66. But the team is already imagining how it will soar above the clouds. NASA shared the corresponding image.

The X-66 aims to help the United States achieve zero emissions in aviation by 2050. The aircraft is being developed as part of the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, which NASA and Boeing are implementing jointly.

The project is aimed at creating a new generation of more environmentally friendly single-aisle aircraft – workhorses for passenger airlines around the world.

Last year, Boeing transported the MD-90 aircraft from which the X-66 will be made to its plant in California and removed its engines as modification work began.

NASA has now shown a rendering of the X-66, which clearly shows the long, thin wings of the aircraft model, which are the embodiment of the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) concept. This is a transonic wing with truss braces, or “braces”.

This is a wing concept proposed by Boeing with additional structural elements that give the functional airframe stiffness and strength under load.