An airplane inspired by Star Trek flies on the ionic wind

Thanks to MIT scientists, the aircraft are moving boldly where no aircraft has ever been to.

according to India today, planes in Star Trek inspired scientists to build and fly the world's first "no moving parts" aircraft with the idea of ​​creating a "quieter, simpler, no-emission" aircraft.

The planes we know today (and that we know almost all of them) have "flown with the help of moving parts such as propellers, turbine blades and fans". Parts are all powered by "burning fossil fuels or batteries that produce a persistent buzz".

This new aircraft is powered by the "ionic wind", described as "a silent but powerful ion flow, which generates sufficient thrust to propel the aircraft on a sustained and constant flight".

Currently called "Version 2 EAD Airframe" or "V2", the aircraft weighs about 4.4 pounds and has a wingspan of about 16.4 feet. One of the greatest attractions of this new design is that it is "completely silent" and "does not depend on fossil fuels for flying".

Steven Barrett, MIT aerospace engineer, said they still had a long way to go to perfect their design. He does not know if the plane will be "practically useful and widely used", but he hopes that he will have a promising future.

"I do not know if you will soon see a big plane carrying passengers," he says, "but obviously, I would be very excited if that were the case."

Barrett is particularly interested in changing the dynamics of drones, which, in his opinion, would be more attractive without noise pollution. "I'm trying not to sell it too much," he says, "but there are some really exciting possibilities here."

The creation of the Star Trek shuttle is the main inspiration for this creation. This is the auxiliary device that is usually attached to a ship or stellar base of the Trek universe. There are many different iterations of the shuttle in the many iterations of Star Trekbut they are almost all "short-range transport with limited deformation capacity". You can learn more about them here.

It will take a long time to see passengers flying in these silent planes, but you will still have the comfort of Star Trek to honor your TV screens.

Star Trek: Discovery returns to CBS All Access in January 2019.