NASA unveils crewed experimental aircraft X-70 Fractal

NASA has announced the X-70 Fractal, a crewed experimental aircraft designed to let researchers rapidly reconfigure flight controls and swap research equipment between tests. The agency unveiled the plane Nov. 4 at the UP.Summit at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, describing it as a platform for studying flight control, maneuverability and other aviation technologies in flight. NASA says the aircraft will carry up to 2,000 pounds of experimental equipment, either inside the plane or on external mounts. Its modular design is intended to let teams change payloads quickly and use the same aircraft for different experiments. The agency lists a takeoff weight of 10,000 pounds, a planned cruise speed of Mach 0.75 and a maximum altitude of 45,000 feet. NASA says the X-70 is designed to have a range exceeding 1,500 nautical miles, or about 1,726 miles. Those figures are design specifications; the aircraft has not yet flown, so its performance has not been demonstrated in flight. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency expects the X-70’s first flight under NASA within the next two years. No exact flight date has been announced. The expected window is a forecast, not a...