A Technology Partnership for the New Millennium

Future Flight Image in a Diamond Shape

Efficiency/Capacity

 Airplanes on Runway
Airplane lined up on the taxiway awaiting take-off. Photo by: Darren Anderson.
The current air transportation system in the United States is experiencing significant delays, decreased efficiency, and increased costs. This is especially true during adverse weather conditions. Over the next 20 years, the demand for air travel is expected to double, making these problems much more severe unless new capabilities are developed and made operational. To assure that these predictions do not become reality, major new improvements to the air transportation system are required. NASA and the FAA are collaborating in efforts to ensure the efficiency, safety, and cost-effectiveness of the future National Airspace System.

Goal: To safely enable major increases in the capacity and productivity of the National Airspace System (NAS) in all weather conditions, through the development of revolutionary operations systems and vehicle concepts.

NASA research will provide:

  • Safe, clear-weather airport capacity in instrument-weather conditions
  • Hardware and software decision support tools to enable the "free flight" concept in the NAS
  • Critical technologies to enable scheduled civil tiltrotor service, to add capacity and reduce delays

FAA research will provide:

  • Surveillance, navigation, and landing applications of Global Positioning System technology
  • Enhanced aviation weather forecasting capabilitiesÐknowing accurately when and where aviation weather hazards will occur
  • Insight into the future roles of pilots and controllers as the NAS evolves toward free flight
  • Redesign of the nation's airspace and airport approaches/departures to fully utilize the advances of technology
  • Automation tools to support collaborative decision making between air carriers and the FAA and to allow more flexible flight planning
  • Exploration of new wake vortex detection and tracking technology
FAA POC:
Steven J. Brown
202-267-7111
steven.j.brown@faa.gov

NASA POCs:
Glenn M. Smith
(202) 358-4735
gsmith1@hq.nasa.gov
http://www.aerospace.nasa.gov/goals/capacity.htm

Mr. Robert Jacobsen
rjacobse@mail.arc.nasa.gov
http://www.asc.nasa.gov

 
NASA Logo NASA Headquarters Responsible Official: Code R
Curator: SAIC Information Services
http://www.aerospace.nasa.gov