Future Planes: On The Wings Of Tomorrow

Planes: they go fast, get you from here to there, and I have to get preeeeetty drunk to step foot on one. But hopefully not so drunk I pass out under a row of seats at the gate and wake up outside security. *ahem* I'm looking at you, LAX. Somebody touched my butt, I f***ing know it.

NASA has taken the wraps off three concept designs for quiet, energy efficient aircraft that could potentially be ready to fly as soon as 2025...The designs come from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and The Boeing Company. In the final months of 2010, each of these companies won a contract from NASA to research and test their concepts during 2011.

According to NASA: "[E]ach design has to fly up to 85 percent of the speed of sound; cover a range of approximately 7,000 miles; and carry between 50,000 and 100,000 pounds of payload, either passengers or cargo. For the rest of this year, each team will be exploring, testing, simulating, keeping and discarding innovations and technologies to make their design a winner."

Apparently, NASA is aiming to develop a line of super-planes that larger, faster, quieter, and that burn fuel slower and cleaner than their present counterparts.

No, apparently NASA is GIVING UP ON SPACE. WTF, BROSKI?! You used to be all, "to the moon, Mars, and beyond!", and now you're all, "planes". Shit's weak! Granted not as weak as Northrop Grumman's concept (after the jump), but I can recognize a 5-minute rendering job when I see one. That one was two, tops.

Hit the jump to see Northrop Grumman's and Lockheed Martin's designs.

Our Future Planes? NASA Reveals The Airplanes Of 2025 [huffingtonpost]

Thanks to Keith, who's convinced if he flaps his arms hard enough he'll fly. Not true, Keith. You still have to jump off a building.

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