NASA tests plane with 14 electric motors

NASA is working on a new aircraft propulsion technology. The organization will equip an experimental aircraft with new wings, to which fourteen electric motors are attached. The goal is to make airplanes use less fuel.

The plans were announced Friday during a presentation in Washington at the Aviation 2016 event. The plane with electrically powered engines has been given the name X-57, and is nicknamed “Maxwell”, after the famous Scottish physicist James Maxwell. According to NASA CEO Charles Bolden, announcing the X-57 is the first step in a journey that will take about ten years, and the goal is to make aircraft better. This specifically concerns the reduction of fuel consumption, emissions of harmful substances and noise.

With the X-57, NASA has opted for a completely new wing design, in which a total of fourteen electrically powered engines have been incorporated. Twelve of these engines are used for take-off and landing, while two are for cruising altitude. NASA believes dividing electrical power across multiple engines can improve efficiency, and expects to cut energy costs by 40 percent.

The technology developed should mainly offer a solution for smaller aircraft. These could not only fly more efficiently with the electrically powered engines, but also achieve higher speeds. While flying at higher speeds normally consumes significantly more fuel, that would not play a major role with the X-57, according to NASA.

Because this is a lengthy research project into new ways of propulsion, it is unlikely that aircraft such as the X-57 will appear on the market in the short term. It is expected that with positive test results, aircraft manufacturers will be given the opportunity to incorporate the technology in their own aircraft.

NASA is best known for developing space technology and organizing space missions, but the organization also has a rich history in developing aircraft. For example, the first experimental aircraft, named X-1, was also the first to fly through the sound barrier. That was in 1947.