Reading Time: < 1 minute Efficient communication at airports is crucial to avoid any irreversible mistakes. NASA is currently working on a digital, wireless airport communications system to supplement the existing voice communication over unsecured radio frequencies – the primary means of communication at hubs. The Aeronautical Mobile Aircraft Communication System (AeroMACS) will create an opportunity for speedy and reliable […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute Supersonic commercial travel is on the horizon. NASA awarded Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® a contract to design, build and flight test the Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator, an X-plane designed to make supersonic passenger air travel a reality. “It is super exciting to be back designing and flying X-planes at this scale,” said Jaiwon Shin, NASA’s associate […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute This month, a research program called SonicBAT II (short for Sonic Booms in Atmospheric Turbulence), is set to begin to help understand sonic booms and how to reduce the noise associated with supersonic flight. The program is a partnership between NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, Langley Research Center […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes NASA has achieved a significant milestone in its effort to make supersonic passenger jet travel over land a real possibility by completing the preliminary design review (PDR) of its Quiet Supersonic Transport or QueSST aircraft design. QueSST is the initial design stage of NASA’s planned Low Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD) experimental airplane, otherwise known as […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes NASA has issued a draft request for proposals for development of its Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator, starting the clock ticking toward first flight of the new X-plane in early 2021. The program calls for the development, building and flight testing of a clean-sheet X-plane that will be used to support the potential […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes When Major Will Andreotta began flying for the Air Force in 2006, he had to do a lot of work. He was training on the F-16, a fighter jet first deployed in 1978, and almost everything was analog. “I would tell my wingman to target something, then call over: ‘Confirm your this, because I’m seeing […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes European aerospace giant Airbus has quietly lifted the curtain on an ambitious Silicon Valley project called Vahana. It’s a pilotless passenger aircraft that aims to someday add a vertical component to your commute. Think of Uber-like air taxis that can beat the traffic on Highway 101 by flying over it. Airbus has shared few details […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes Companies want to jointly develop engine prototypes with power classes ranging from a few 100 kilowatts up to 10 and more megawatts, for short, local trips. Siemens and Airbus teamed up today to develop electric and hybrid electric/combustion engines for commercial and private aircraft. The companies said they would amass a joint development team of […]

Reading Time: 2 minutes A company called Boom Technology Inc. has unveiled plans for a supersonic airplane of the same name, which is being developed as a replacement for Concorde. Boom airplanes are predicted to fly 2.6 times faster than any other aircraft (and faster than Concorde Mach 2.0), and hit speeds of Mach 2.2 or 1,451 miles per […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes A six-year NASA mission to advance green aviation has wrapped up and the results are in: If U.S. airlines embrace certain technologies to reduce fuel burn, noise and air pollution, they could save $255 billion over 25 years. That’s the upshot of the Environmentally Responsible Aviation project that was led out of NASA Langley Research […]