NASA research could save airlines billions
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Research into new environmentally-friendly technologies could save airlines hundreds of billions of dollars, NASA has said.
The US space agency recently completed a six year study, called Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA), aimed at revamping aircraft design and improving efficiency. And according to NASA, these projects could cut airlines’ fuel consumption in half, reduce aircraft pollution by 75% and noise to nearly one-eighth of today’s levels.
“If these technologies start finding their way into the airline fleet, our computer models show the economic impact could amount to US$255 billion (for US carriers) in operational savings between 2025 and 2050,” said Jaiwon Shin, NASA’s associate administrator for aeronautics research.
Created in 2009 and completed in 2015, ERA’s mission was to study the feasibility, benefits and technical risks of new aircraft design concepts and technologies that would reduce aviation’s impact on the environment. This was then split into three categories: airframe technology, propulsion technology and vehicle systems integration.
NASA and its industry partners invested approximately US$650m in the six-year project. Some of the key technologies that have arisen from the ERA project included:
– Proving that safely reducing the size of an aircraft’s tailfin would reduce weight and drag
– Developing new lightweight composite materials that weigh up to 20% less than metal
– Developing new flexible wing flap technology that improves aerodynamics
– Refining the design of a turbine engine to improve its efficiency
– Developing new tools to help engineers reducing noise from wing flaps and landing gear
– Studying a new hybrid wing that connects seamlessly to the aircraft fuselage
During the project, NASA and its partners created a series of new aircraft concepts for the future – CLICK HERE to view the futuristic designs.
And while most of these will not make it off the drawing board, many of the new concepts researched by NASA could soon be introduced. The ERA mission statement says it plans to meet the “mid-term goals” of the aviation industry, meaning in the next five to 10 years.
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