NASA must have realized that it’s been a while since we had some new pictures of crazy futuristic flying vehicles to look at. The National Aeronautic and Space Administration has released three pictures of concept aircraft that could theoretically hit the skies in 2025. The concepts come from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and The Boeing Company, which were awarded contracts to study and design the future aircraft.
NASA intends for all three of these designs to produce less noise, cleaner exhaust, and consume lower amounts of fuel than modern aircraft. They also have to fly at least 85 percent of the speed of sound, have a range of 7,000 miles, and carry between 50,000 and 100,000 lbs of cargo. Below are the initial designs by each company.
Northrop Grumman
The Boeing Company
Lockheed Martin
All three designs look pretty neat, but NASA hasn’t released any unique information about any of the designs, so we are left to speculate about almost everything, including the odd paint job on the Lockheed Martin design. My personal favorite is the design by The Boeing Company because it looks like it has three almost entirely unnecessary propellers on it.
NASA tends to release batches of pretty pictures and concept designs every so often. Check out this one-man stealth plane or these 10 space projects. And don’t forget: NASA just discovered “alien life” in California as well.
