Wednesday, February 10, 2016

NASA's crazy 18-propeller wing test looks like a scene out of Mad Max

by Unknown  |  in The Verge - Science Posts at  10:02 AM

Meet the Hybrid Electric Integrated Systems Testbed, or HEIST.

If it looks like the Doof Warrior from Mad Max: Fury Road should be riding on top, wielding a flamethrower-guitar hybrid while Max and Furiosa haul ass through the wastelands, I can't disagree with you. In reality, this ridiculous thing is used by NASA to test new electric aircraft technologies, like a weird wing with 18 tiny propellers on it.

News of the test rig isn't new, nor is NASA's interest in exploring electrification as a viable technology for the future of aviation — the work for this testing has been going on since last May. But this particular photo stood out in a NASA post this week, a reminder that the line separating air and space research from...

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