NASA X-70 Fractal: crewed experimental research aircraft

On Wednesday, NASA unveiled the X-70 Fractal, a new crewed experimental aircraft, at the UP.Summit at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The agency describes it as a high-performance, highly adaptable research platform for developing and testing advanced aviation technologies nasa.gov.

Flight controls and payload

The X-70 uses advanced, rapidly reconfigurable flight-control technology. According to NASA, it will allow the agency to explore aircraft maneuverability in ways not previously demonstrated in crewed flight nasa.gov. The aircraft can carry up to 2,000 pounds of experimental payloads in internal and external locations, which opens a wide range of research and flight-testing options nasa.gov.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the modular design and the ability to swap internal and external payloads quickly will let teams move from one experiment to the next. He also said the agency expects the aircraft's first flight under the NASA banner within the next two years nasa.gov.

Specifications and lineage

The X-70 Fractal has a takeoff weight of 10,000 pounds. It is designed to cruise at Mach .75 and reach altitudes of up to 45,000 feet. Its operational range is designed to exceed about 1,726 miles (1,500 nautical miles) nasa.gov. NASA says these parameters will allow demanding flight research across a broad range of operating conditions nasa.gov.

Laurie Grindle, director of the Aeronautics Division within NASA's Research and Technology Mission Directorate, said the agency has used X-planes for decades to develop technologies that advance aviation. In her words, the X-70 is another aircraft to accelerate and drive aeronautics research nasa.gov.

NASA places the X-70 in a line of experimental aircraft that includes the Bell X-1, which first broke the sound barrier in 1947, the X-15 hypersonic research aircraft and the current X-59 quiet supersonic demonstrator nasa.gov. The agency states that the X-70 will expand its capacity for experimental flight research and speed up the testing of emerging technologies nasa.gov.

NASA unveils crewed X-70 Fractal research aircraft with 2,000 lb payload capacity

Flight controls and payload

Specifications and lineage

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