Airplane arrives at Boeing site for NASA's sustainable flight project

Boeing on Thursday announced that the company has ferried an MD-90 airplane to the site where it will be modified to test the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration as part of NASA's Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project.

The X-66A is NASA's first experimental plane focused on helping the United States achieve its goal of net-zero aviation greenhouse gas emissions. Modification will begin soon and ground and flight testing is expected to begin in 2028, according to the company.

The TTBW design and other expected technological advances could lead to reductions in fuel use and emissions by up to 30 percent. Boeing and NASA have collaborated for more than a decade on the concept through the Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Program.