NASA researchers are working with industry and university partners to develop ideas for future airplanes that dramatically reduce noise, emissions and fuel consumption. One idea comes from a research team led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., and funded by a NASA grant. MIT and NASA engineers recently tested a 1/11th scale model version of the D8 in the 14 by 22-Foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center. The test was designed to produce data, now being analyzed, that can determine whether incorporating the engines into the fuselage of the airplane actually reduces drag. Pictured (l to r): Alejandra Uranga, research engineer and aeronautics MIT technical lead, and Mark Drela, professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT.
Image credit: NASA Langley/Kathy Barnstorff