An MIT-led team recently won a $2 million contract from NASA to develop concepts for commercial airliners that could go into service beginning around 2030. This sleek-looking airplane is among the team's preliminary concepts.

Armed with the grant, the team will conduct an 18-month study of ways to make passenger planes of the future quieter, greener and more energy efficient -- a crucial need in this era of rising fuel prices.

Eight MIT faculty members from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, including professor Edward Greitzer as principal investigator, as well as several students, will be working on the project in collaboration with engineers from Aerodyne Research, Aurora Flight Sciences, Boeing Phantom Works, and Pratt & Whitney. Image / Aurora Flight Sciences

A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on November 5, 2008 (download PDF).