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NOTE TO EDITORS:
NASA INVITES MEDIA TO NEW AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT CONCEPT
SIMULATION
Airline pilots will link up with air traffic controllers by
computer in NASA laboratories on opposite sides of the country this
summer to evaluate new air traffic management technology.
Researchers using the newly created Air Traffic Operations
Laboratory at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., and
the Airspace Operations and Flight Deck Display Research
Laboratories at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field,
Calif., are studying ways to improve efficiency and reduce flight
delays as demand for air travel continues to grow. One promising
approach is to use advanced aircraft and ground technologies to
supplement overburdened air traffic control systems. NASA calls
this Distributed Air/Ground Traffic Management. This study is an
important component of NASA's Advanced Air Transportation
Technologies Project, under the Airspace Systems Program.
Media are invited to NASA Langley in Hampton, VA and NASA Ames
in Mountain View, CA to observe a practice of the Distributed
Air/Ground Traffic Management simulation experiment, May 20, 21, 24
and 25. For more information call Kathy Barnstorff at 757/864-9886
or Jonas Dino at 650/604-5612.
During the practice simulation, airline pilots and some stand-in
researchers will be at computer workstations flying simulated
aircraft into a mock-up of the Dallas Fort Worth airspace. Air
traffic controllers, using new automation and data communication
tools, will be able to see those aircraft on simulated air traffic
control monitors. The pilots will use an experimental autonomous
flight management system to plan their own routes to safely and
seamlessly fit into the traffic flow.
During the formal simulation in June, researchers at Langley and
Ames will not only observe the experiment but will also take
extensive data to verify how well the system works.
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