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by Someone
1323 days ago
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FTA: “NASA in June launched a competition for U.S. companies to design and build a full-scale demonstrator. The rules require entrants to target planes around the size of a Boeing Co. 737 that can carry 150 passengers. The agency wants a prototype that could fly as early as 2027 and be ready for mass production in the next decade.” How does that fit in NASA’s mission? Also FTA: “Entrants to the NASA competition had to demonstrate their designs can be mass-produced at 60 planes a month” That’s serious. For reference, there are about 11,000 Boeing 737s, produced over about 55 years. That’s about 200/year or 17/month on average. Reading http://www.b737.org.uk/production.htm claims “The production rate has increased from 31 aircraft a month in 2005 to 42/month in 2014 and reached 57 aircraft a month by 2019 for the 737MAX.” |
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That first A there in NASA stands for Aeronautics. Advancing aircraft design and technology is part of NASA's mission. It's even in their official mission statement:
> NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery.