NASA Awards Green Grants

Pia Bergqvist

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 09:23 PM ET

Verified

Courtesy of NASA

Key Takeaways:

NASA has awarded $16.5 million in contracts to industry and academic teams, including Boeing, MIT, Cessna, and Northrop Grumman, to develop greener and quieter airplanes.
The goal is to produce new generations of fuel-efficient aircraft with reduced noise levels, aiming for service entry between 2030 and 2035.
Boeing is developing truss-based wing designs, hybrid engine technology, and lightweight materials under its SUGAR project.
Other key innovations include MIT's "double bubble" fuselage and high-efficiency engine, Cessna's self-healing "magic skin" for noise insulation and protection, and Northrop Grumman's smoother leading edge design.

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Contracts designed to make greener, quieter airplanes awarded to industry and academic teams.

Research teams from Boeing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cessna Aircraft Company and Northrop Grumman Systems have received a total of $16.5 million to develop technologies for quiet, more fuel efficient airplanes to enter service between 2030 and 2035. The time period has been named N+3 by NASA, representing technological developments three generations ahead of the airplanes in service today. NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in Washington is funding the work, which will be overseen by the Subsonic Fixed Wing Project at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and the Langley Research Center in Virginia.