Landing planes at busy airports can be a challenging work of aerial ballet, and this week, NASA is testing a computerized choreographer to handle the job in the skies over Washington state.
The tests, supervised by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, are part of a series of flights known as Air Traffic Management Technology Demonstration, or ATD-1.
Three research airplanes have been outfitted with NASA-developed software that keeps track of the speed and position of the airplanes as they approach an airport.
The flight deck interval management software automatically calculates how fast the planes should be traveling to maintain the proper spacing between them, and displays that information on a tablet in the planes’ cockpits.
The software can predict the moment when an airplane touches down within a few seconds. That information should help pilots and ground controllers plot the planes’ routes more easily and efficiently. The payoff comes in the form of fuel savings, noise and pollution reduction and fewer flight delays.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngKazVQN4BI
NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia and Ames Research Center in California played key roles in developing the software, but the Pacific Northwest provides more open space for trying out the system under real-world conditions.
A Honeywell Dassault Falcon business jet is taking on the role of prima ballerina for this week’s tests. It broadcasts speed and position data to a Honeywell Boeing 757 based out of Seattle’s Boeing Field, and to a United Airlines Boeing 737 based out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
During each test flight, the three jets conduct the aviation equivalent of a pas de trois – with Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Wash., serving as the primary stage.
“It’s a very simple ‘follow the leader’ operation that is easy to execute by the flight crew,” Sheri Brown, ATD-1 project manager at Langley Research Center, said in NASA’s preview of the tests.
Performances are taking place all this week, but NASA says the initial ATD-1 flights were already “very successful.” Here’s a Twitter recap of today’s test:
https://twitter.com/NASA_Langley/status/829015455180263424
https://twitter.com/NASA_Langley/status/829017188870729730
https://twitter.com/NASA_Langley/status/829036223784038400
https://twitter.com/NASAAero/status/829004455949406209
https://twitter.com/NASAXrocks/status/829023359492988929
https://twitter.com/NASAXrocks/status/829059784070615040
https://twitter.com/NASA_Langley/status/829043134558384128
https://twitter.com/NASA_Langley/status/829045249360044032
https://twitter.com/NASA_Langley/status/829050735719428096
https://twitter.com/NASA_Langley/status/829051092004540416
https://twitter.com/NASA_Langley/status/829071512304881665
https://twitter.com/NASAAero/status/829071646774349824
https://twitter.com/NASAXrocks/status/829089960166715392
https://twitter.com/NASAXrocks/status/829130809445535744
Stay tuned for more about ATD-1 as the test flights continue. And stay tuned for the sequel as well: NASA researchers already have started putting ATD-2 through its paces in a 360-degree airport simulator at Ames Research Center.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9_1-2C-9KA
For more about the ATD-1 flights, check out the report on Boeing Field’s Centerline blog and NASA’s media advisory.