Their new project “would focus on demonstrating thin-wing technology with broad applications for multiple aircraft configurations,” NASA explained in a statement.
Re-focusing on thin-wing technology
The re-evaluation would see Boeing focus on a “ground-based testbed to demonstrate the potential for long, thin-wing technology”, NASA explained on it website.
The X-66 program heavily modified a McDonnell Douglas MD-90 aircraft to demonstrate a truss-braced version of the thin wing. The experimental aircraft was at the forefront of NASA’s plans to achieve net-zero aviation emissions by 2050.
The transonic truss-braced wing (TTBW) aircraft was scheduled to make its first flight in 2028. If flight demonstrations were successful, Boeing planned to start operating the aircraft commercially in the 2030s.