Nasa unveils its first e-airplane, first flight in 2020
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE: Nasa, most prominent for its many Florida-launched exploits into space, showcased an early version of its first all-electric experimental aircraft, the X-57 “Maxwell”, on Friday at its lesser-known aeronautics lab in the California desert.
Adapted from Italian-made Tecnam P2006T twin-engine propeller plane, the X-57 has been under development since 2015 and remains at least a year away from its first test flight in the skies over Edward Air Force Base.
But after attaching the two largest of 14 electric motors that will ultimately propel the plane — powered by specially designed lithium ion a batteries — Nasa deemed the Maxwell ready for its first public preview.
Nasa also showed off a newly built simulator that allows engineers, and pilots, to get the feel of what it will be like to maneuver the finished version of the X-57 in flight, even as the plane remains under development.
The Maxwell is the latest in a proud line of experimental aircraft the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has developed over many decades for many purposes, including the bullet-shaped Bell X-1 that first broke the sound barrier and the X-15 rocket plane flown by Neil Armstrong before he joined the Apollo moon team.
The Maxwell will be the agency’s first crewed X-plane to be developed in two decades.
While private companies have been developing all-electric planes and hover-craft for years, Nasa’s X-57 venture is aimed at designing and proving technology according to standards that commercial manufacturers can adapt for government certification.
Those will include standards for airworthiness and safety, as well as for energy efficiency and noise, Brent Cobleigh, an official said.
“We’re focusing on things that can help the whole industry, not just one company,” he said. “Our target right now is to fly this airplane in late 2020.”