Every automaker now has ventured into the use of electricity to power their cars with an aim to reduce emissions, but never have airlines and space agencies tried to do the same – until now… an electric aircraft.
NASA Glenn Research Center is pioneering the manufacture of the electric aircraft. They now have the NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed, or NEAT, as the Plum Brook Station’s newest facility for the engineers to use in the design, development, and testing of systems for the revolutionary aircraft. Dr. Rodger Dyson leads the NASA Glenn Hybrid Gas Electric Propulsion technical team.
A first test was conducted in September with NEAT, wherein 600 volts of electricity were successfully tested to power a system enabling the operation of a one- or two-person aircraft. The goal is to have a world-class, reconfigurable testbed that will be used to assemble and test the power systems for large passenger airplanes with over 20 Megawatts of power.
The greatest challenge of the first electric aircraft is to make it more efficient and light-weight, according to Dyson. He said, “Next year we’re going to upgrade the size of these motors – we’ll use the same technology to test the higher-power stuff next.”
Increasing efficiency and reducing weight are critical aspects in the development of this technology so it can be applied to larger, commercial aircraft, potentially resulting in reduced flying costs for airline companies and travelers.
