The US space agency (NASA) is preparing to launch its all-electric aircraft in a test flight that marks the first steps of “electricity in the sky”, after the success of the electrical test on the streets around the world.
NASA is preparing for the first flight of its all-electric X-57 test aircraft later this year, which will not run on jet fuel, but on the same lithium-ion batteries used in laptops. .
Project X-57 was launched in 2016 with the aim of investigating all-electric propulsion and hoping to develop more efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft.
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, aviation accounts for about 2 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, and NASA notes that unlike engine fuels, jet fuel still contains lead, albeit at low levels, which is a major cause of environmental pollution.
The electric aircraft is scheduled to make its first test flight in July, according to The Independent.
NASA uses new technologies in aircraft, not to make the aircraft fly higher or faster, but to make the aircraft fly slower and more efficiently.
NASA has adjusted the wings of the X-57 to make it only 42 percent the size of aircraft, a plan the space agency says reduces traction to make flying more efficient.
And if the aircraft could demonstrate all-electric flight capability over the California desert near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, it could pave the way for electronic aircraft 40 percent more efficient than today’s aircraft.
And without combustion engines, these flights could be much quieter, if not completely silent, because even electric fans make noise, and we can see a drone carrying passengers electrically.
Source: Lebanon Debate
