Photograph courtesey of NASA Ames
NASA 'FutureFlight Central,' the world's first full-scale virtual airport control tower, operates out of NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field. The facility is designed to test--under realistic airport conditions and configurations--ways to solve potential air and ground traffic problems at commercial airports. The imaging system provides a realistic view of weather conditions, environmental and seasonal effects and the movement of up to 200 active aircraft and ground vehicles.
Moffett home to NASA flight simulator
FutureFlight Central to help SFO, LAX with troubleshooting
By Daniel Hindin
An amazing new use of computer technology is being used for the first time in the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field to ensure safety at airports throughout the country. The people at NASA have created a synthetic airport and control tower that will help the San Francisco Airport, and other airports including Los Angeles, plan changes to increase efficiency and safety.
FutureFlight Central, the world's only walk-in, full-scale, 360-degree airport simulator enables airport officials and safety authorities to evaluate new tower positions, runway configuration and aircraft movements before construction begins.
The setup includes a scale model flight tower, in which actual air traffic controllers watch simulated airplanes take off and land on computer screens similar to those used to create the film "Jurassic Park." The controllers wear headphones with attached microphones, into which they give commands to actual pilots.
The pilots receive the information and follow the directions in order to complete a take off or landing. The only difference is they're manning computerized controls used to operate a computerized simulation of an airplane.
The weather changes. The sun rises and sets. Traffic increases and decreases. NASA wants to make sure the controllers experience every condition that airports do in real life.
All of the actions are videotaped, allowing analysis of human performance and decisions.
Nancy Dorighi, facilities manager at Ames, describes the importance of such technology, "When there are suggestions to change procedures, many options would be too risky to try at a real airport. You can't just go and try it out. This allows us to draw conclusions for safety, or the possibility of increasing traffic, or adding a new terminal. It helps us to understand what the changes will mean in reality."
From Feb. 20 to 23, FutureFlight Central was employed to conduct a joint project sponsored by Los Angeles World Airports, the FAA, United Airlines and NASA.
"We're studying several different alternatives we've identified as possible options [of changes at LAX]," says Stephen Yee, LAX manager. "We're thinking of having planes land on the in-board runways, instead of the out-boards so pilots don't have to cross runways on the way to the terminal. We've identified intersections that have created a lot of crosses, and are trying to do away with them and see how capacity is affected. We've maxed out our capacity, and we're trying to figure out how we can add traffic and still keep it safe."
Yee adds, "With all of the game toys and Super Marios, you'd have to figure they would come up with something like this. The potential is unlimited."
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
