At a Glance

X-planes are experimental aircraft testing new technologies and designs.The program dates back to the X-1 in the 1940s.The newest, a venture with Boeing, is the X-66A.

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Move over, traditional airliners. There’s a new X-plane in town, and it aims to shape the next generation of more environmentally friendly passenger airplanes in the U.S.

X-plane status is designated by the U.S. Air Force and is used for experimental aircraft researching and testing new designs and technologies.

The program dates back to the 1940s when the became the first generation of aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound.

The newly designated will be a modified Boeing MD-90 with a shortened fuselage and long, thin wings with a set of aerodynamic trusses for support, according to a recent announcement by NASA.

A rendering of the X-66A.

(NASA)

The agency says the design, called a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing, could result in up to 30% less fuel consumption and reduced greenhouse gas emissions when combined with other new technologies, materials and systems.

Hopes are that the new design could push the U.S. toward its goal of net zero aviation greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to NASA.

Single-aisle aircraft like the MD-90 are the workhorse of passenger air travel worldwide. And NASA says that because of their wide use, single-aisle planes account for nearly half of greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation sector.

such as carbon dioxide trap heat in the atmosphere and fuel global warming and climate change.

The aviation sector accounts for about of emissions in the U.S. related to transportation, according to a statement from the White House in 2021.

The Environmental Protection Agency in 2020 issued the first-ever U.S. emissions for commercial airplanes and large private jets.

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Weather.com reporter Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, .