1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,920 Imagine how most people felt the first time they heard that one day man would be able 2 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:13,000 to fly, or that we hope to actually land a man on the moon. 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:17,800 Those ideas seemed pretty crazy at the time, but today we know just about anyone can fly 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:23,120 in an airplane, and we have astronauts actually living in space. 5 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,600 Now what if I told you that one day we would be able to fly in an aircraft that could bend, 6 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,400 twist, and maneuver just like a bird? 7 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:31,400 Sound crazy? 8 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:35,420 Well, I spoke with Anna McGowan at the NASA Langley Research Center, who's working to 9 00:00:35,420 --> 00:00:39,640 incorporate something called morphing technology into aircraft. 10 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:45,440 And these morphing technologies could turn those crazy ideas into reality. 11 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:50,220 Morphing is looking at really advanced materials and other technologies that will make airplanes 12 00:00:50,220 --> 00:00:51,720 even better than they are today. 13 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:56,320 We got the word morphing actually from the word metamorphosis. 14 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:01,760 The word morph means to change, and we're using a lot of advanced materials and technologies 15 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:06,000 to make airplanes change from one configuration to the other. 16 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,580 Our task at NASA Langley is to look 20 years into the future. 17 00:01:09,580 --> 00:01:14,400 Some of our challenges are making the airplanes even safer, making them more efficient, meaning 18 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:19,920 you could fly farther on the same tank of fuel, or carry more passengers, for example. 19 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:24,400 And we're working on making airplanes as versatile as a bird is. 20 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,640 So we're taking some lessons from nature. 21 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,840 To get aircraft to perform with bird-like agility, first you have to understand how 22 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:33,600 birds fly. 23 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,520 Efficient wing design, feathers, and hollow, lightweight bones allow birds to fly better 24 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:40,560 than any man-made machine. 25 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:45,680 By drawing on the inspiration of birds, Langley researchers are hoping to develop technologies 26 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:49,520 that will enable aircraft to perform with bird-like agility. 27 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:55,560 For example, synthetic jets will cover parts of the wing and replicate the effects of feathers. 28 00:01:55,560 --> 00:02:00,600 These technologies can alter the airflow over the wings for superior maneuverability. 29 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:06,840 Microspheres will replicate the bird's hollow bones and allow lightweight wings to be manufactured 30 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,760 for increased performance and efficiency. 31 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:14,280 Sounds like science fiction, but in fact, these technologies are real. 32 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:19,640 We make airplanes as efficient as birds by trying to replicate or mimic some of the characteristics 33 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:20,640 birds have. 34 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:25,340 As an example, birds use feathers to control the airflow over the wings. 35 00:02:25,340 --> 00:02:28,600 We are doing that by using what are called synthetic jets. 36 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:34,760 Synthetic jets suck in their own air and then pump it out very quickly, creating a fluctuating 37 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:35,760 plume of air. 38 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,840 This little plume of air basically simulates what a feather would do. 39 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:45,080 On a bird, the feathers are used to adjust the airflow over the wing of the birds so 40 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,840 that the bird flies optimally no matter what the air conditions are outside. 41 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:51,240 Now, on an airplane, we do the same thing. 42 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,840 We put these jets inside the wing of the airplane and say, for example, we had a gust of wind 43 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:56,840 coming into the airplane. 44 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:01,880 We would turn on very specific jets at the right time and at the right frequency. 45 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:06,500 And by doing so, then we can adjust the airflow over the wings of the airplane, thereby making 46 00:03:06,500 --> 00:03:11,060 the airplane very stable and comfortable and maneuverable at all flight conditions. 47 00:03:11,060 --> 00:03:16,320 We also want to be able to mimic the porous inside section of a bird bone because that 48 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,860 porous inside section is lightweight, but it adds extra strength. 49 00:03:20,860 --> 00:03:25,260 We do that by using what are called tiny microspheres. 50 00:03:25,260 --> 00:03:30,780 You would take these microspheres and actually inject them into a composite material. 51 00:03:30,780 --> 00:03:34,340 And once we inject them in, we would use heat to fuse them together. 52 00:03:34,340 --> 00:03:38,900 Therefore, we could achieve a lightweight structure that is also very strong, which 53 00:03:38,900 --> 00:03:41,140 is the same thing that birds use when they fly. 54 00:03:41,140 --> 00:03:45,140 Anna, besides birds, are there any other designs inspired by nature? 55 00:03:45,140 --> 00:03:49,100 Well, we're also looking to the water for some inspiration from nature. 56 00:03:49,100 --> 00:03:53,940 Fish and shark and whales swim very efficiently in the water. 57 00:03:53,940 --> 00:03:59,260 And the flow of water over the skin of a shark is very similar to the flow of air over the 58 00:03:59,260 --> 00:04:00,260 wings of an airplane. 59 00:04:00,260 --> 00:04:04,500 If you look at shark skin under a microscope, you'll actually see a bunch of little teeny 60 00:04:04,500 --> 00:04:05,700 grooves. 61 00:04:05,700 --> 00:04:10,220 So our hope at NASA Langley is that perhaps our material scientists can create the same 62 00:04:10,220 --> 00:04:14,360 groove-like material and we can apply that to the skin of airplanes and make them much 63 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:15,940 better flyers. 64 00:04:15,940 --> 00:04:19,860 We're also looking at flapping wing airplanes, believe it or not. 65 00:04:19,860 --> 00:04:23,220 This design was inspired by the wings of a hummingbird. 66 00:04:23,220 --> 00:04:27,060 If you use an airplane that does not have flapping wings, you have to have two things, 67 00:04:27,060 --> 00:04:29,700 an engine and wings. 68 00:04:29,700 --> 00:04:31,700 Flapping wing airplanes do not need an engine. 69 00:04:31,700 --> 00:04:36,460 The wings will provide you forward motion or thrust, as well as lift, which goes up. 70 00:04:36,460 --> 00:04:40,380 So, Anna, tell me how you design a flapping wing without using an engine. 71 00:04:40,380 --> 00:04:46,100 We actually use what are called smart or active materials instead of using an engine. 72 00:04:46,100 --> 00:04:47,900 And why is it referred to as smart material? 73 00:04:47,900 --> 00:04:51,300 Well, smart materials actually move on command. 74 00:04:51,300 --> 00:04:55,940 These are materials that when you apply a stimulus, like electricity or heat or in some 75 00:04:55,940 --> 00:04:58,100 case magnetism, they actually move. 76 00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:04,020 Another very common one that we've just developed is called a macrofiber composite. 77 00:05:04,020 --> 00:05:08,660 The macrofiber composite works by when you apply electricity to it, it will move in the 78 00:05:08,660 --> 00:05:10,140 direction you'd like it to move. 79 00:05:10,140 --> 00:05:15,300 So what we would do is when we adhere this, or if you were embedded inside an airplane 80 00:05:15,300 --> 00:05:20,060 wing or the tails of a fighter airplane, it would actually absorb the vibration. 81 00:05:20,060 --> 00:05:23,660 As a consumer, you can put these in your washing machine to absorb vibration. 82 00:05:23,660 --> 00:05:24,660 You can put it in your cars. 83 00:05:24,660 --> 00:05:27,260 You can even use it to absorb sound. 84 00:05:27,420 --> 00:05:31,300 So we think that these materials, like this one, are really going to revolutionize how 85 00:05:31,300 --> 00:05:33,300 we build things in the future. 86 00:05:33,300 --> 00:05:36,140 We're also looking at a material called a shape memory alloy. 87 00:05:36,140 --> 00:05:39,500 You would use this material to bend and twist airplane wings. 88 00:05:39,500 --> 00:05:42,420 Now, you might wonder why we'd want to do that kind of thing. 89 00:05:42,420 --> 00:05:45,820 Well, birds also bend and twist their wings in flight. 90 00:05:45,820 --> 00:05:50,380 Now, being able to bend and twist airplane wings is really difficult because airplane 91 00:05:50,380 --> 00:05:52,500 wings tend to be very stiff. 92 00:05:52,740 --> 00:05:57,660 If you bend this material, this shape memory alloy, it will actually go back to its original 93 00:05:57,660 --> 00:05:58,660 shape. 94 00:05:58,660 --> 00:06:00,620 So if you bend this, I'll show you what it looks like. 95 00:06:00,620 --> 00:06:06,340 Then I'm going to apply this lighter to it, and you can watch it go back to its original 96 00:06:06,340 --> 00:06:07,340 shape. 97 00:06:07,340 --> 00:06:12,540 Now, this simple little material can pull around 700 pounds. 98 00:06:12,540 --> 00:06:17,940 So by placing a couple of these in an airplane wing, we can make the airplane bend or twist. 99 00:06:17,940 --> 00:06:22,940 We hope that by flying more like a bird does, we can save a lot of money on fuel, as well 100 00:06:22,940 --> 00:06:26,500 as reduce the complexity of the mechanisms within the airplane wing. 101 00:06:26,500 --> 00:06:31,300 So we're using a lot of these biologically inspired materials and technologies to make 102 00:06:31,300 --> 00:06:34,140 aircraft and spacecraft a lot safer to fly.