NASA backs X-plane development of twin-hull Aurora D8 airliner

In February, NASA announced that it

wanted to use its New Aviation Horizons program to revive the famed X-plane that did so much to advance post-war aviation. Now the agency has awarded a six-month US$2.9 million contract to Manassas, Virginia-based Aurora Flight Sciences to develop a scaled demonstration version of its Aurora D8 subsonic commercial airliner. Described as "changing the paradigm," the D8 is designed to significantly improve airliner performance by 2027.
Source http://newatlas.com/nasa-x-plane-aurora-d8/45415/?li_source=LI&li_medium=default-widget