NASA has demonstrated it’s first all-electric experimental which they have dubbed as the X-57 Maxwell. Its first test flight is going to be scheduled for sometime next year (2020).
NASA showed off the electric plane which has been under development
NASA has demonstrated it’s first all-electric experimental which they have dubbed as the X-57 Maxwell. Its first test flight is going to be scheduled for sometime next year (2020).
NASA showed off the electric plane which has been under development since 2015. The presentation reportedly took place at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in the California desert.
Maxwell or the X-place is the agency’s first all-electric experimental aircraft. The aircraft is based on the Tecnam P2006T but instead of using a traditional combustion engine. It is equipped with electric cruise engines and there is less than a year before the test flight.
Due to battery limitations, the aircraft is designed for short flights with only a few passengers. However, NASA also demonstrated a newly built simulator which will aid pilots and engineers in how the aircraft will behave in the air.
According to the project director Brent Colby NASA is committed to developing and testing the technology following the safety and airworthiness standards of aircraft.
“We focus on things that can help the entire industry, not just one company. Our goal now is to fly this aircraft at the end of 2020,”Brent Colby Project Directory @NASA