Page 5 - Aerotech News and Review, March 19, 2021

NASA to begin dation testing, a critical final step be- flight, and that’s why I’m excited,” said tems and operations engineers to actu-
fore taxi tests begin.
Sean Clarke, NASA’s X-57 principal
ally operate the vehicle. What they’re
“Many of the team members operat-
learning in this test, they’ll take with
investigator. “We’ve turned a corner
high-voltage ground ing this test will be the same ones who from system design and lab tests, to them into the control room for first
turning it over to the NASA flight sys-
flight.”
will be sitting in the control room for
testing on all-
electric X-57

NASA is set to start high-voltage Testing is expected to start with low
functional ground testing of the agen- power, checking the startup and shut-
cy’s first all-electric X-plane, the X-57 down sequences and verifying that the
Maxwell, which will perform flights to new motor control software boots up
help develop certification standards for and controls the motors as expected.
emerging electric aircraft. This software and other major compo-
NASA is also supporting these new nents were recently redesigned based
electric aircraft by developing quiet, on lessons learned from previous test-
efficient, reliable technology these ve- ing by the project’s prime contractor,
hicles will need in routine use. Empirical Systems Aerospace, or ES-
The testing will take place at NA- Aero, of San Luis Obispo, California.
SA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center These tests will include higher-pow-
in Edwards, Calif., marking a pivotal er operation of the vehicle. The first
milestone for the project as NASA pro- pair of electric cruise motors to fly on
ceeds from the component design and the X-57, which were delivered by ES-
prototype phase to operation of the ve- Aero, will be powered up and activated,
hicle as an integrated aircraft, taking a allowing engineers to ensure that the
critical step closer toward taxi tests and vehicle’s propellers spin as designed.
first flight. This will be followed by throttling
The X-57, currently in its first con- up the motors to make sure they pro-
figuration as an electric aircraft, called vide all the power intended, validating
Mod 2, will use a battery support sys- the vehicle’s instrumentation system,
tem for this phase of testing, draw- and verifying whether all the sensors NASA photograph by Lauren Hughes
ing power from a large, high-voltage installed across the aircraft are func- NASA’s all-electric X-57 Maxwell prepares for ground vibration testing, or GVT, at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research
power supply as development on the tional. Center in California. Done in parallel with cruise motor controller testing, the GVT tested the vehicle at various vibration
X-plane’s battery control system nears This high-voltage testing will feed levels, helping engineers to examine and validate the integrity of the vehicle for flight conditions. A goal of X-57 is to
completion. directly into final verification and vali- help the Federal Aviation Administration set certification standards for emerging electric aircraft markets.

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