1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,440
Not long after the first flight at Kitty Hawk, the Wright Brothers, and many other inventors

2
00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,160
for that matter, began trying to find ways to make aircraft better.

3
00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:21,400
In a relatively short amount of time, aircraft designs went from canvas and wood structures

4
00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:25,980
with very weak engines to metal structures with very powerful engines.

5
00:00:25,980 --> 00:00:31,020
With each new innovation, propeller-driven aircraft became stronger, safer, and much

6
00:00:31,020 --> 00:00:32,300
more efficient.

7
00:00:32,300 --> 00:00:37,000
The next great revolution in aircraft design came with the development of the jet engine.

8
00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,540
This type of engine truly changed air travel dramatically.

9
00:00:40,540 --> 00:00:45,920
It enabled aircraft to fly farther and faster than propeller-driven aircraft, while improving

10
00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:47,580
safety and efficiency.

11
00:00:47,580 --> 00:00:51,940
However, since the beginning of the jet age, technology innovations in aircraft have been

12
00:00:51,940 --> 00:00:54,780
more incremental than revolutionary.

13
00:00:54,780 --> 00:00:59,220
Small steps forward have continued to make flying safer, but what will be the next great

14
00:00:59,220 --> 00:01:01,660
revolution in air travel?

15
00:01:01,660 --> 00:01:06,300
To help answer this question, NASA researchers are working on new designs that could change

16
00:01:06,300 --> 00:01:08,420
air travel once again.

17
00:01:08,420 --> 00:01:13,820
New aircraft shapes, cleaner-burning fuels, and new materials could be the first steps

18
00:01:13,820 --> 00:01:16,540
in the next revolution in aircraft design.

19
00:01:16,540 --> 00:01:21,420
I spoke with Bob McKinley in the Vehicle Systems Program Office at NASA Langley to find out

20
00:01:21,420 --> 00:01:24,140
what future aircraft might look like.

21
00:01:24,140 --> 00:01:28,900
The Vehicle Systems Program Office is focused upon working on improving the aircraft of

22
00:01:28,900 --> 00:01:29,900
the future.

23
00:01:29,900 --> 00:01:33,620
In particular, we want to work on quality of life for the citizens of this country,

24
00:01:33,620 --> 00:01:38,500
and that's where our investment is aimed, and also to make aircraft safer and cleaner

25
00:01:38,500 --> 00:01:40,580
and better for the environment.

26
00:01:40,580 --> 00:01:44,900
Some of the aircraft that we're working on would be subsonic transports like jetliners

27
00:01:44,900 --> 00:01:51,620
that would fly quieter, land and takeoff quieter, and supersonic aircraft that could fly over

28
00:01:51,620 --> 00:01:56,740
land without making a sonic boom, and personal air vehicles that you and I could use in place

29
00:01:56,740 --> 00:01:57,740
of an automobile.

30
00:01:57,740 --> 00:02:02,280
Now, will the aircraft of the future look similar to the aircraft we see today?

31
00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,700
Some aircraft will look the same as what we see today or very similar, and some will not.

32
00:02:06,700 --> 00:02:10,740
One of the concepts that we've been working on in terms of advanced technologies is the

33
00:02:10,740 --> 00:02:16,740
blended wing body, or the BWB, and that aircraft is aimed specifically at being much cleaner

34
00:02:16,740 --> 00:02:19,140
in terms of emissions and fuel burn.

35
00:02:19,140 --> 00:02:23,900
Subsonic aircraft are much more efficient and quieter than aircraft designed, say, even

36
00:02:23,900 --> 00:02:29,780
30 years ago, but public demand for quieter and more environmentally friendly aircraft

37
00:02:29,780 --> 00:02:31,140
continues to grow.

38
00:02:31,140 --> 00:02:36,860
In an effort to meet this goal, NASA is researching an aircraft called the BWB, or blended wing

39
00:02:36,860 --> 00:02:37,860
body.

40
00:02:37,860 --> 00:02:43,820
The BWB is a hybrid shape that mainly resembles a flying wing, but also incorporates some

41
00:02:43,820 --> 00:02:46,940
features of a conventional transport aircraft.

42
00:02:46,940 --> 00:02:52,540
The futuristic airframe is a unique design with efficient high-lift wings and a wide

43
00:02:52,540 --> 00:02:58,940
airfoil-shaped body, allowing the entire aircraft to generate lift and minimize drag, thereby

44
00:02:58,940 --> 00:03:00,940
increasing fuel economy.

45
00:03:10,140 --> 00:03:14,220
In addition to the blended wing body, if we are working on aircraft that would cruise

46
00:03:14,220 --> 00:03:19,980
at a higher speed, today's planes fly between 5 and 600 miles an hour, we call it Mach 0.85,

47
00:03:19,980 --> 00:03:24,500
is about the standard, and what we'd like to do is move to an aircraft that allows us

48
00:03:24,500 --> 00:03:31,260
to fly at Mach 1.6 to 1.8, which is over twice as fast, say 1,200 miles an hour, and you'd

49
00:03:31,260 --> 00:03:34,980
be able to get from New York to L.A. in about two hours.

50
00:03:34,980 --> 00:03:37,100
The technology exists to do that today.

51
00:03:37,100 --> 00:03:41,100
We have supersonic aircraft, we could make aircraft that would efficiently cruise at

52
00:03:41,100 --> 00:03:44,420
that speed, and the Concorde is an example.

53
00:03:44,420 --> 00:03:49,900
Aircraft like that can't fly supersonically over the United States or over any landmass

54
00:03:49,900 --> 00:03:52,580
because they create a huge sonic boom as they do so.

55
00:03:52,580 --> 00:03:58,460
A sonic boom is a noise similar to thunder, caused by an object moving faster than sound,

56
00:03:58,460 --> 00:04:01,620
about 750 miles per hour at sea level.

57
00:04:01,620 --> 00:04:07,100
As an aircraft travels through the atmosphere, it continuously produces air pressure waves,

58
00:04:07,100 --> 00:04:10,460
similar to the water waves caused by a ship's bow.

59
00:04:10,460 --> 00:04:15,820
When the aircraft exceeds the speed of sound, these pressure waves combine and form shock

60
00:04:15,820 --> 00:04:16,820
waves.

61
00:04:16,820 --> 00:04:20,100
These shock waves are heard as a sonic boom when they hit the ground.

62
00:04:20,100 --> 00:04:24,940
This boom is so disturbing that aircraft today generally only break the sound barrier over

63
00:04:24,940 --> 00:04:33,380
water or in restricted military space, but new testing at NASA might soon change that.

64
00:04:33,380 --> 00:04:38,460
In recent tests, NASA researchers successfully demonstrated a way to lessen the impact of

65
00:04:38,460 --> 00:04:39,460
a sonic boom.

66
00:04:39,460 --> 00:04:46,500
Flight cleared high altitude supersonic, entry exit point one, advise to complete the corridor.

67
00:04:46,500 --> 00:04:50,780
They found that by designing the wings and body of an aircraft to a specific shape, the

68
00:04:50,780 --> 00:04:54,300
pressure waves generated can be kept from merging together.

69
00:04:54,300 --> 00:04:59,180
The resulting shock waves are therefore much weaker in strength, and the sound heard on

70
00:04:59,180 --> 00:05:01,140
the ground is less intense.

71
00:05:01,420 --> 00:05:10,380
With this new breakthrough, supersonic flight over land may finally be within reach.

72
00:05:10,380 --> 00:05:15,260
Another program that NASA researchers are currently working on may completely revolutionize

73
00:05:15,260 --> 00:05:23,700
the way we currently commute and travel in our daily lives.

74
00:05:23,700 --> 00:05:27,780
One of the major breakthroughs for personal travel in the 20th century was the development

75
00:05:27,780 --> 00:05:28,780
of the automobile.

76
00:05:29,140 --> 00:05:33,820
Before the automobile came along, the average person would only travel five miles a day

77
00:05:33,820 --> 00:05:34,980
or less.

78
00:05:34,980 --> 00:05:39,360
This number increased to 50 miles a day with the development of the automobile.

79
00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,980
The goal of the personal air vehicle is to enable the average person to travel about

80
00:05:43,980 --> 00:05:49,540
250 miles a day by using their own or a shared personal air vehicle.

81
00:05:49,540 --> 00:05:55,340
The hope of NASA researchers is that personal air vehicles will be used in the 21st century

82
00:05:55,420 --> 00:05:59,100
the same way automobiles have been used in the 20th century.

83
00:05:59,100 --> 00:06:03,500
This change would allow much more mobility and freedom in our everyday lives.

84
00:06:03,500 --> 00:06:09,100
These aircraft may be able to completely displace the automobile just as automobiles did horses.

85
00:06:09,100 --> 00:06:11,020
And we're looking at those in three phases.

86
00:06:11,020 --> 00:06:16,100
The first being what we call a quiet, conventional personal air vehicle.

87
00:06:16,100 --> 00:06:20,300
Be very similar to what you see out on general aviation runways today.

88
00:06:20,300 --> 00:06:24,660
We hope to make these aircraft so easy to use that almost anyone would be able to take

89
00:06:24,660 --> 00:06:28,780
a few hours of training and get in and use this vehicle to get anywhere they want to

90
00:06:28,780 --> 00:06:29,780
go.

91
00:06:29,780 --> 00:06:35,440
The second phase would be what we call a vertical or short takeoff and landing air taxi.

92
00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:40,380
And this would be an aircraft that could take off in very short distances and hold six or

93
00:06:40,380 --> 00:06:41,380
eight people.

94
00:06:41,380 --> 00:06:45,100
And you'd be able to just walk up like you did a taxi at a taxi stand and say, I need

95
00:06:45,100 --> 00:06:49,100
to go from Washington to Cleveland, and you'd be in and go.

96
00:06:49,100 --> 00:06:52,340
The third phase, we'd get into what we call a dual mode.

97
00:06:52,340 --> 00:06:56,820
And this would be, if you think Jetsons, this is the flying car.

98
00:06:56,820 --> 00:07:01,700
You'd be able to park this thing in your garage, drive out on your street, roll down the street

99
00:07:01,700 --> 00:07:05,380
a little ways to some short takeoff field and fly.

100
00:07:05,380 --> 00:07:10,620
And maybe it's as simple as take me to grandma's house and it knows how to get you there.

101
00:07:10,620 --> 00:07:16,540
You know, we've come a long way since the Wright brothers took their short flight at

102
00:07:16,540 --> 00:07:17,540
Kitty Hawk.

103
00:07:17,540 --> 00:07:20,940
There have been a lot of innovations in aircraft technology in just the short amount of time

104
00:07:20,940 --> 00:07:22,460
that we've been in the air.

105
00:07:22,460 --> 00:07:25,620
And NASA's been a big part of that, and we're going to continue to be a part of that in

106
00:07:25,620 --> 00:07:25,620