CNET

NASA’s first manned X-plane in 2 decades is 100% electric

NASA’s X-57 Maxwell aircraft is its first all-electric X-plane. Developing the X-57 is NASA’s way of keeping pace with the growing market for electric aircraft and the regulatory challenges they present.

Published

6 years ago

November 9, 2019

CYBER TECH TV

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32 Comments

Jesse O

November 9, 2019 at 8:30 pm

Do you think electric planes are the future of flight? Let us know down below!

Reply
- 525Lines
  
  November 10, 2019 at 2:47 am
  
  I’m still convinced people sized pneumatic tubes are the future. THUMP!
  
  Reply
- Mark Rejhon
  
  November 10, 2019 at 6:20 am
  
  @Space Monkey Electric mobility (Tesla cars, battery trains, etc) have built-in battery heaters powered from itself, which help greatly with this, in addition to a bit of lightweight insulation. Electric heating gobbles a few percent of range, but solves the problem for the flight duration.
  
  Reply
- Space Monkey
  
  November 10, 2019 at 7:19 am
  
  @Mark Rejhon lets see on the long run and their fire accident safety.
  
  Thats why Tesla is under investigation for fire breakout.
  
  Reply
- Kino
  
  November 10, 2019 at 12:57 pm
  
  Can we just skip to teleportation?
  
  Reply
- Atomic Boy
  
  November 10, 2019 at 9:29 pm
  
  Yes I have about 5 or 10 in the basement.
  
  Reply
Zaezae

November 10, 2019 at 5:52 am

Where my boy elon

Reply
Mayank Thakur

November 10, 2019 at 6:19 am

As long as propellers doesn’t make thousand bee noice., It’s perfect

Reply
Peter

November 10, 2019 at 7:05 am

How many billions did NASA need to build this plane? Shame

Reply
- eric planting
  
  November 10, 2019 at 9:26 am
  
  100 dollars for the graphic, 200k for the plane mockup, 3 million for the simulator, then 2 billion for other expenses
  
  Reply
Albus Regnum

November 10, 2019 at 7:55 am

Need better batteries need to invest heavy into battery research.

Reply
eric planting

November 10, 2019 at 9:20 am

200 mile range?

Reply
Mangosmooth

November 10, 2019 at 9:43 am

Never. What we need is coal burning aircraft.

Reply
Watch Memail

November 10, 2019 at 9:44 am

chishh i hate it

Reply
David Neuman

November 10, 2019 at 11:31 am

Electric appears to be the future way. For Planes, Trains, and Ships, I believe fuel cell technology with hydrogen may be a transportation long-distance solution that could be potentially manufactured at their ports to run these electric motors or generators.

Reply
- Fly Beep
  
  November 10, 2019 at 4:23 pm
  
  Trains? Wait…..you guys don’t have electric trains? Here in Europe, ALL trains are electric.
  
  Reply
ATCr

November 10, 2019 at 12:19 pm

I think hybrid long range aircraft may be viable sooner.

Reply
crib cat

November 10, 2019 at 12:26 pm

It’s great that NASA is doing something besides watching Russia ferry our astronauts to the ISS , but building planes is not cost effective when done by the government and allied contractors. At least we’ll be paying 8 times more than needed. I guess the bean counters at NASA went to the AOC school of finance… “Spend all you want, we’ll print more”. And just like Orange Obama says,” The economy is Booming… let’s lower interest rates” Another over budget albatross to hang on our wall of failure.

Reply
Sandeep

November 10, 2019 at 3:04 pm

Is it VTOl?

Reply
TheEseJandro

November 10, 2019 at 3:26 pm

NASAs reason for doing this is weird…

Reply
Dinraal

November 10, 2019 at 5:28 pm

*crewed

Reply
ethancanin

November 10, 2019 at 6:31 pm

We should have no surprises…

Reply
Steve Dawson

November 10, 2019 at 7:03 pm

The Government is going slow things down. I have been waiting for the electric Black Fly to be released it was going to be released in 2019 but the Government is holding up the release. It’s BS

Reply
dave houston

November 10, 2019 at 7:53 pm

A long way off

Reply
Gary E

November 10, 2019 at 8:28 pm

Love the idea of an all electric plane. Just have to find a battery or power supply to make it feasible for more than hour. Maybe a long extension cord, or a big rubber band for a hybrid electric!

Reply
Christopher Montoya

November 10, 2019 at 9:29 pm

Rather excited for the future. I’m looking forward to this kind of technology to come into its own.

Reply
xpeterson

November 10, 2019 at 10:32 pm

Why do the small engines fold up for cruise flight? I would imagine it would take minimal energy to keep them spinning in cruise, and I was under the impression that higher efficiency can be obtained by moving a larger mass of air more slowly rather than a smaller mass more rapidly.

As it stands, it seems (from the perspective of a YouTube commentator at chairing it up) that any efficiency gains from the higher aspect ratio wing will be lost to the multiple drag pods the engines become when they’re not in use. I heard that the storage pods on the long ez take 5 knots off the top speed alone

Reply
Shihab Mohammed

November 11, 2019 at 1:19 am

WTF

Reply
Brandon Fenske

November 11, 2019 at 1:58 am

Its gonna be interesting to see what the future holds in this area of avionics

Reply
CZARNYEU

November 11, 2019 at 1:59 am

Good Idea. Regards from Europe

Reply
lightotw

November 11, 2019 at 2:14 am

Hydrogen fuel cell instead of batteries. Use the space in the wings rather than fill them with Styrofoam, just like all other planes which store their fuel there.

Reply
rosana nana

November 11, 2019 at 2:45 am

primeiro avião X tripulado em duas décadas é 100% elétrico É o futuro do Mundo

Reply

CNET

I Was in AWE of This Techie Art Exhibit (Ministry of Awe)

Scott Stein takes you inside the Ministry of Awe, Philadelphia’s immersive six story art experience. Go on a journey with him as he explores how technology and art meet in this space. Hear from the founders of Spatial Pixel, who explain what inspires them to combine AI with this physical art experience. 0:00 Entering the…

Published

1 day ago

April 4, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Scott Stein takes you inside the Ministry of Awe, Philadelphia’s immersive six story art experience. Go on a journey with him as he explores how technology and art meet in this space.
Hear from the founders of Spatial Pixel, who explain what inspires them to combine AI with this physical art experience.

0:00 Entering the Vault
0:13 The Concept
1:07 Programmable Space
1:41 Interacting with AI
3:12 The Future of Immersive Tech

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#MinistryOfAwe #ImmersiveArt #PhiladelphiaEvents #SpatialAI #FutureOfTech #CNET #InteractiveArt #SpatialPixel #OldCityPhilly

CNET

Apple at 50: Sharing Our Biggest Apple Memories

With Apple turning 50 this week, Bridget Carey goes down memory lane with her CNET teammates on what it was like to cover the iconic company and how the products shaped our lives. Read more on CNET.com Apple’s 50-Year Legacy of Product Innovation, Through CNET’s Lens 0:15 CNET reporters share their favorite Apple memories 0:22…

Published

2 days ago

April 3, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

With Apple turning 50 this week, Bridget Carey goes down memory lane with her CNET teammates on what it was like to cover the iconic company and how the products shaped our lives.

Read more on CNET.com
Apple’s 50-Year Legacy of Product Innovation, Through CNET’s Lens

0:15 CNET reporters share their favorite Apple memories
0:22 Bridget Carey’s start with Apple
0:39 iMac G3
0:48 Jeff Carlson learns newspaper layout and Page Maker on a Mac
0:56 Aldus PageMaker
1:02 Transporting a Mac Classic across campus on a bike
1:15 Scott Stein takes a PowerBook 145 to college
1:46 Abrar Al-Heeti’s favorite gadget is the iPod Nano (3rd Gen)
2:05 Faith Chihil bought an iPod with a click wheel in 2021 and uses it today
2:25 Can someone help Faith Chihil fix her Scion’s aux input?
2:43 Bridget Carey holds off on buying the first iPhones
2:48 iPhone 3Gs was Bridget Carey’s first Apple purchase
3:00 Vanessa Hand Orellana stands in line for iPhone 3s
3:26 Patrick Holland accidentally. became the face of the Apple Store
3:56 Bridget Carey starts her job at CNET in 2011
4:07 Bridget Carey goes to the Apple Store to cover the death of Steve Jobs
4:21 Patrick Holland watched fans pay tribute to Steve Jobs by leaving notes at the Apple Store
4:52 Patrick Holland describes working at the Apple Store
5:06 Iyaz Akhtar waits in line at the Soho Apple Store for Mac OS X Leopard
5:35 Bridget Carey remembers reporting on crazy lines for Apple product launch days
5:43 Vanessa Hand Orellana remembers reporting from iPhone lines
5:56 Jeff Carlson attends Apple’s infamous U2 Songs of Innocence album release event
6:09 Tim Cook and Apple give half a billion iTunes users a U2 album for free
6:36 Apple releases a fix to delete the U2 album from your phone
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CNET

The ‘Camera’ That Can Do Anything | What The Future

I visited Lightstorm Entertainment for a behind-the-scenes look at how Avatar: Fire and Ash was filmed. Performance capture technology films every possible angle at once, then a virtual camera captures specific shots, and finally, the VFX team completes all the effects. 0:00 Inside the Avatar: Fire and Ash Production 0:29 Phase 1: The Volume &…

Published

3 days ago

April 2, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

0:00 Inside the Avatar: Fire and Ash Production
0:29 Phase 1: The Volume & Performance Capture
1:10 Introduction to the Virtual Camera
1:43 How the Virtual Camera Works
2:40 Establishing Creative Rules for Virtual Cinematography
3:07 Phase 3: Final VFX & Polishing the World
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