MOBILITY ENGINEERING Produced by SAE Media Group
MOBILITY ENGINEERING
Magazines
Magazine cover

Current Issue

Archives

Magazine cover

Current Issue

Archives

Magazine cover

Current Issue

Archives

Magazine cover

Current Issue

Archives

NASA Unveils Radically New Airplane Wing

Artist’s concept of the integrated wing-body aircraft, enabled by the new construction method, being assembled by a group of specialized robots, shown in orange. (Image: Eli Gershenfeld, NASA Ames Research Center)

NASA built and tested a radically new kind of airplane wing assembled from hundreds of tiny identical pieces. It could provide a significant boost in aircraft production, flight, and maintenance efficiency. The flexible wing uses carbon fiber composite units arranged in a lattice pattern.

Instead of requiring separate movable surfaces such as ailerons to control the roll and pitch of the plane, the new system makes it possible to deform the whole wing, or parts of it, using computers integrated into the wing.

Source 

Topics:
Aeronautics Aerospace Aviation Materials

More From SAE Media Group

    Top Stories

    INSIDERRF & Microwave Electronics

    Feature Image FAA to Replace Aging Network of Ground-Based Radars

    PodcastsDefense

    Feature Image A New Additive Manufacturing Accelerator for the U.S. Navy in Guam

    NewsSoftware

    Feature Image Rewriting the Engineer’s Playbook: What OEMs Must Do to Spin the AI Flywheel

    Road ReadyPower

    Feature Image 2026 Toyota RAV4 Review: All Hybrid, All the Time

    INSIDERDefense

    Feature Image F-22 Pilot Controls Drone With Tablet

    INSIDERRF & Microwave Electronics

    Feature Image L3Harris Starts Low Rate Production Of New F-16 Viper Shield

    Webcasts