NASA Administrator Charles Bolden paid a brief visit to NASA’s Langley Research Center Friday, May 10. His visit included stops at the center’s Air Traffic Operations Lab and Cockpit Motion Facility.
“What I came down to see today was the tremendous progress that’s been made in our collaboration with the FAA and the Department of Defense on what we call NextGen – or Next Generation Air Transportation System,” he said.
At the Air Traffic Operations Lab, Bolden observed a simulation of cockpit technologies for the Air Traffic Management Technology Demonstration-1 (ATD-1), which will allow aircraft arriving at airports to safely fly closer together on more fuel-efficient routes. He also tried out the Enhanced Vision (EV) system at the Cockpit Motion Facility, successfully using it to land an airplane in poor weather conditions.
Bolden seemed impressed by what he saw.
“The workload for pilots and air traffic controllers, and the comfort for the passenger, is all markedly improved by what’s being done here – incredibly innovative work,” he said.
Image Credit: NASA/David C. Bowman