Andrew Liszewski
is a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2006, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid.
Yesterday NASA announced the latest addition to its X-series of experimental aircraft that have included the Bell X-1 that first broke the sound barrier nearly 80 years ago, and the more recent X-59 quiet supersonic demonstrator. The new X-70 Fractal is designed to be a “high-performance, highly adaptable research platform” that NASA can use as a testbed for the development and testing of next-generation aviation technologies.
The agency only released an AI-generated image of the X-70 shrouded in smoke and shadows, but confirmed several of the plane’s capabilities. It will be a crewed aircraft with a cruising speed of Mach .75 that can reach altitudes of up to 45,000 feet and will provide an “operational range exceeding about 1,726 miles.” The X-70 will be able to carry up to 2,000 pounds of experimental equipment either inside or outside the aircraft, and will feature “advanced, rapidly reconfigurable flight-control technology that will allow NASA to explore aircraft maneuverability in ways never before demonstrated in crewed flight.”
“The X-70 Fractal gives NASA a crewed,
