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NASA Drops Futuristic Aircraft Part at Langley for Structural Testing

By Juliet Van Wagenen | December 9, 2014
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[Avionics Today 12-09-2014] NASA plans to deliver a representative test article of a futuristic hybrid wing body aircraft to Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., for structural testing this Thursday. The large test section, representing the uniquely shaped fuselage cross-section of the futuristic aircraft design, is made out of a low-weight, damage-tolerant, stitched composite structural concept called Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure (PRSEUS).

NASA worked with Boeing and the United States Air Force Research Laboratory to develop the PRSEUS structural concept, which was built by Boeing Research and Technology. Langley’s combined loads test system will subject the aircraft carbon-fiber architecture test article to conditions that simulate loads typically encountered while in flight.

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