science

NASA Puffin

NASA Puffin is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand NASA Puffin rather than just read about it. In short: The NASA Puffin is a concept for a single person, electrically powered vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft designed by engineers from NASA, MIT, Georgia Tech, and other research institutions. First introduced in 2009, Puffin was a critical project to test the feasibility and capabilities of electric propulsion.

Key takeaways

NASA Puffin belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect NASA Puffin to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of NASA Puffin from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The NASA Puffin is a concept for a single person, electrically powered vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft designed by engineers from NASA, MIT, Georgia Tech, and other research institutions. First introduced in 2009, Puffin was a critical project to test the feasibility and capabilities of electric propulsion. The design features a lightweight carbon-fiber frame, a tiltrotor system, and a fully electric powertrain allowing it to be nearly silent. The concept design was projected to be capable of flying a single person at a cruise speed of 150 miles per hour (241 km/h), with range expected to be less than 50 miles (80 km) with 2010-vintage Lithium-iron-phosphate battery technology. The design specified a 14.5 foot (4.4196 m) wingspan, standing 12 feet (3.65 m) tall on the ground in its take-off or landing configuration. A one-third scale model was built in 2010, and was briefly displayed including appearing in one episode of a Discovery Channel series on invention.

Development

While at NASA, Mark Moore developed the Puffin as part of his doctoral program and achieved the first flight of a one-third scale, hover-capable Puffin technology demonstrator by March 2010 as the first eVTOL (electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft concept. By mid-summer 2010, they hoped to "begin investigating how well it transitions from cruise to hover flight". As of August 2010, the one-third scale model of the Puffin was briefly on display at the NASA Langley campus for the filming of the Discovery Channel series Dean of Invention. The Puffin simulator was also demonstrated. The Puffin was slated to appear in the eighth and final episode of the show. The aircraft was never built at full-scale nor extensively tested. The Puffin project was worked on by several research institutions. Each institution's major contributions to the Puffin are listed below. NASA:

Spearheaded the Puffin project and provided coordination among institutions. Developed the Puffin’s tail-sitter design to achieve vertical takeoff, landing, and a transition to horizontal flight. Contributed to the Puffin’s aerodynamics testing and evaluation. Massachusetts Institute of Technology:

Contributed to the analysis of the Puffin’s aerodynamic performance. Contributed to the analysis of the Puffin’s electric propulsion systems. Georgia Institute of Technology:

Contributed to the analysis of the Puffin’s aerodynamic performance. Conducted sub-scale testing of low tip-speed proprotors to achieve NASA’s goal of reducing noise production to one-tenth of a conventional helicopter. National Institute of Aerospace:

Contributed to the Puffin’s aerodynamic design through computational fluid dynamics simulations. Contributed to the analysis of the Puffin’s structural integrity. M-DOT Aerospace:

Contributed to the Puffin’s design validation. The design was announced in November 2009, and a third-scale prototype was made and flown in February 2010. Despite never manufacturing a full-scale Puffin, this project has significantly advanced research for the one-passenger eVTOL aircraft.

Impact on eVTOL Industry The Puffin has significantly influenced the development of personal air mobility and electronic aviation. By being the first (scale) eVTOL aircraft to take flight, the Puffin demonstrated the feasibility of electric propulsion in vertical flight, paving the way for subsequent advancements in the eVTOL industry.

Concept specifications Data from NASAGeneral characteristics Crew: 1 Capacity: 1 passenger Length: 12 ft 0 in (3.65 m) Wingspan: 14 ft 6 in (4.196 m) Empty weight: 300 lb (136 kg) Gross weight: 600 lb (272 kg) Max takeoff weight: 600 lb (272 kg) Propellers: 4 propellers-bladed Performance

Maximum speed: 300 mph (480 km/h, 260 kn) Cruise speed: 150 mph (240 km/h, 130 kn) Range: 50 mi (80 km, 43 nmi) expected range "no more" than this

See also Electric aircraft Backpack helicopter Martin Jetpack

References

External links NASA.gov: The Puffin: A Passion for Personal Flight, 2010-02-08. Electric Icarus: NASA Designs a One-Man Stealth Plane: Could the Puffin, an electric-powered flying suit, change the way we use the sky in war and peace?, Charles Q. Choi, Scientific American, 2010-01-19 Meet the “Puffin,” NASA’s One-Man Electric Plane, Discover Magazine, 2010-01-20. NASA’s Puffin Is Way Cooler Than a Jetpack, Jason Paur, Wired, 2010-01-21. NASA Low Noise, Electric VTOL Personal Air Vehicle, computer graphic video.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with NASA Puffin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what NASA Puffin claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to NASA Puffin before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about NASA Puffin ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of NASA Puffin

In research: NASA Puffin appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses NASA Puffin in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: NASA Puffin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United States, EVTOL aircraft, Electric aircraft, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for NASA Puffin outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “NASA Puffin” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study NASA Puffin in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what NASA Puffin means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain NASA Puffin out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is NASA Puffin in simple terms?

Why does NASA Puffin matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study NASA Puffin?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on NASA Puffin.