Boeing Co. has ferried an MD-90 airplane to Palmdale, where it will be modified to test a new type of wing that the company hopes will lower emissions.
The aircraft, known as X-66A, will test the transonic truss-braced wing configuration as part of NASA’s sustainable flight demonstrator project.
The X-66A is NASA’s first experimental plane focused on helping the United States achieve its goal of net-zero aviation greenhouse gas emissions, according to a release from Boeing, in Arlington, Virginia.
Modification will soon begin on the MD-90 aircraft, with ground and flight testing expected to start in 2028.
Boeing Chief Technology Officer Todd Citron said the delivery of the aircraft marks an important step in the sustainable flight demonstrator project.
“It advances Boeing’s commitment to sustainability and brings us closer to testing and validating the (transonic truss-based wing) design,” Citron said in a statement.
Boeing and NASA have collaborated for more than a decade on the concept through the subsonic ultra-green aircraft research program, the aviation company added.
“We at NASA are excited to be working with Boeing on the X-66A sustainable flight demonstrator making critical contributions to accelerate aviation towards its 2050 net-zero greenhouse gas emission goal,” Ed Waggoner, deputy associate administrator for programs in the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, said in a statement.