1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,800 Hey Dan, we're getting ready to land. 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:12,400 You know, airplanes arrive from several different directions, and the Air Traffic Control Center 3 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:17,600 has to merge all those planes into a single file line, making sure there's a safe distance 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:19,080 between each plane. 5 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:24,480 Right, and since air traffic can sometimes arrive like rush hour traffic on a highway, 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,820 pilots may have to adjust their flight plans, change their speed or altitude, or go into 7 00:00:28,820 --> 00:00:30,500 a holding pattern. 8 00:00:30,500 --> 00:00:32,820 Some of these adjustments may cause delays. 9 00:00:32,820 --> 00:00:34,980 However, safety comes first. 10 00:00:34,980 --> 00:00:35,980 That's right. 11 00:00:35,980 --> 00:00:40,380 When we are about 6 to 18 kilometers from the airport, the Air Traffic Control Center 12 00:00:40,380 --> 00:00:44,060 hands us off to the San Francisco Airport Control Tower. 13 00:00:44,060 --> 00:00:48,820 Tower controllers there relay current weather and air traffic information to our pilot. 14 00:00:48,820 --> 00:00:52,820 Wow, what a ride. 15 00:00:52,820 --> 00:00:54,820 Hey, there's the control tower. 16 00:00:54,820 --> 00:00:56,820 I wonder what they're doing in there. 17 00:00:56,820 --> 00:01:01,780 Let me tell you, now that we've landed, controllers in the tower tell our pilot which taxiways 18 00:01:01,780 --> 00:01:04,100 to use and where we can park. 19 00:01:04,100 --> 00:01:07,820 You know, we're not completely safe until we've parked at the gate and our pilot has 20 00:01:07,820 --> 00:01:09,820 turned off the fasten seatbelt sign. 21 00:01:09,820 --> 00:01:12,820 San Francisco, here we come. 22 00:01:26,820 --> 00:01:41,820 While NASA's Aviation Safety Program is helping pilots maintain high levels of safety in our 23 00:01:41,820 --> 00:01:46,820 skies, NASA is also working to help airports operate more safely and efficiently. 24 00:01:46,820 --> 00:01:51,820 As airplane traffic increases in our skies, the possibility for more accidents or incidents 25 00:01:51,820 --> 00:01:53,820 also increases on the ground. 26 00:01:53,820 --> 00:01:57,820 Pilots have flight simulators to simulate conditions in the air, but what about people 27 00:01:57,820 --> 00:02:01,820 in control towers who monitor and direct takeoffs and landings? 28 00:02:01,820 --> 00:02:06,820 Yeah, I mean, could all the people that guide airplanes to the ground, like pilots, air 29 00:02:06,820 --> 00:02:11,820 traffic controllers, and airport operators, work together and try out new ways to safely 30 00:02:11,820 --> 00:02:13,820 move planes around an airport? 31 00:02:13,820 --> 00:02:18,820 NASA believed they could, so a unique facility was built right here in California to help 32 00:02:18,820 --> 00:02:21,820 solve present and future problems of our nation's airports. 33 00:02:21,820 --> 00:02:23,820 It's called NASA Future Flight Central. 34 00:02:23,820 --> 00:02:29,820 And to learn more, we came here to NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. 35 00:02:33,820 --> 00:02:35,820 Why was NASA Future Flight Central built? 36 00:02:35,820 --> 00:02:39,820 How does NASA use technology to simulate airports? 37 00:02:39,820 --> 00:02:44,820 Analyzing the graph, what factors do you think influence the air traffic controller's response? 38 00:02:45,820 --> 00:02:51,820 NASA Future Flight Central is a two-story facility with a 360-degree view. 39 00:02:51,820 --> 00:02:55,820 It's capable of doing a full-scale, real-time simulation of an airport. 40 00:02:55,820 --> 00:03:00,820 It's where air traffic controllers, pilots, and airport personnel can interact with each 41 00:03:00,820 --> 00:03:02,820 other and test out new technologies. 42 00:03:02,820 --> 00:03:07,820 As you can see, this is designed to look very much like a real air traffic control tower. 43 00:03:07,820 --> 00:03:09,820 The downstairs rooms support the simulation. 44 00:03:09,820 --> 00:03:12,820 We bring in real air traffic controllers. 45 00:03:12,820 --> 00:03:18,820 They wear headsets and communicate with the pilots, giving them permission to taxi, take off, and land. 46 00:03:18,820 --> 00:03:23,820 At the same time, they also scan the runways and taxiways to make sure that all the airplanes 47 00:03:23,820 --> 00:03:28,820 are maintaining a safe distance from each other, just as you do while driving an automobile. 48 00:03:28,820 --> 00:03:32,820 How do you make this tower and these planes look so real? 49 00:03:32,820 --> 00:03:34,820 With a supercomputer. 50 00:03:34,820 --> 00:03:39,820 We create a virtual airport environment, which means it is made to look very realistic when 51 00:03:39,820 --> 00:03:41,820 compared to an actual airport. 52 00:03:41,820 --> 00:03:47,820 We do this by using satellite imagery, aerial surveys, and digital photography. 53 00:03:47,820 --> 00:03:53,820 Simulation software allows us to move 200 vehicles, like airplanes or ground trucks, 54 00:03:53,820 --> 00:03:56,820 all at the same time and at realistic speeds. 55 00:03:56,820 --> 00:04:02,820 We can simulate a variety of weather conditions, like dense fog, rain, or snow. 56 00:04:02,820 --> 00:04:07,820 We can also place numerous planes on the runway that need to move all at once, making the 57 00:04:07,820 --> 00:04:09,820 test as realistic as possible. 58 00:04:09,820 --> 00:04:14,820 For example, an airplane can be placed where it shouldn't be, and the air traffic controllers 59 00:04:14,820 --> 00:04:18,820 have to try to safely get the plane out of the way to avoid a collision. 60 00:04:18,820 --> 00:04:19,820 Nancy, that is so cool. 61 00:04:19,820 --> 00:04:24,820 Sounds like NASA Future Flight Central simulates many of the conditions that happen at our nation's airports. 62 00:04:24,820 --> 00:04:25,820 That's right. 63 00:04:25,820 --> 00:04:30,820 Not only at our facility can we duplicate a real airport and operate it as it runs today, 64 00:04:30,820 --> 00:04:34,820 but we can also make changes and see if we can make things safer. 65 00:04:34,820 --> 00:04:38,820 For example, we conducted a study of San Francisco International Airport. 66 00:04:38,820 --> 00:04:44,820 Currently, the airport is conducting an environmental review to assess the possibility of building new runways. 67 00:04:44,820 --> 00:04:50,820 Because of space limitations, these new runways would be built out into San Francisco Bay. 68 00:04:50,820 --> 00:04:54,820 This could possibly cause the airport to relocate its control tower. 69 00:04:54,820 --> 00:05:00,820 Using our facility, we simulated the San Francisco airport and built the new runways. 70 00:05:00,820 --> 00:05:05,820 Then, for each proposed location of the tower, we moved some planes down the runway and watched the view. 71 00:05:05,820 --> 00:05:10,820 Without Future Flight Central, the airport might move its tower to a location when blocked views 72 00:05:10,820 --> 00:05:12,820 and wouldn't be able to operate the airport safely. 73 00:05:12,820 --> 00:05:16,820 Has NASA used this facility to simulate any other airports? 74 00:05:16,820 --> 00:05:17,820 We sure have. 75 00:05:17,820 --> 00:05:23,820 Recently, NASA did a study of the Los Angeles International Airport, or in airport terms, LAX. 76 00:05:23,820 --> 00:05:29,820 Our goal was to simulate a realistic operating environment that was as close as possible 77 00:05:29,820 --> 00:05:33,820 to what the LAX air traffic controllers experience every day in the tower. 78 00:05:33,820 --> 00:05:37,820 This study was different from the one on the San Francisco airport 79 00:05:37,820 --> 00:05:40,820 because before we could simulate any changes to LAX, 80 00:05:40,820 --> 00:05:46,820 we had to first make sure that we could realistically simulate one of the busiest airports in the world. 81 00:05:46,820 --> 00:05:51,820 So, how did you determine if the simulation was as realistic as the real LAX? 82 00:05:51,820 --> 00:05:53,820 Just like you do in math class, Dan. 83 00:05:53,820 --> 00:05:58,820 First, we collected data from the air traffic controllers using questionnaires. 84 00:05:58,820 --> 00:06:03,820 Using the data, we created an interpreted graph to determine if we accomplished our goal. 85 00:06:03,820 --> 00:06:08,820 There were many factors involved in determining whether our simulation was realistic. 86 00:06:08,820 --> 00:06:10,820 Let me show you one of the graphs we created. 87 00:06:10,820 --> 00:06:15,820 The title of the graph is Realism Ratings for LAX Air Traffic Controllers. 88 00:06:15,820 --> 00:06:20,820 This graph tells us how the real LAX controllers rated our simulation. 89 00:06:20,820 --> 00:06:21,820 Okay, let's see. 90 00:06:21,820 --> 00:06:27,820 Along the bottom are ratings from 1 to 5, with 1 being not at all realistic 91 00:06:27,820 --> 00:06:30,820 and 5 being identical to LAX. 92 00:06:30,820 --> 00:06:34,820 Nancy, what is a ground air traffic controller and a local air traffic controller? 93 00:06:34,820 --> 00:06:38,820 A ground controller is responsible for airplanes on the ground, 94 00:06:38,820 --> 00:06:41,820 leaving the gate and taxiing to the runway, for example. 95 00:06:41,820 --> 00:06:44,820 A local controller issues takeoffs and landings, 96 00:06:44,820 --> 00:06:48,820 maintains a safe distance between arriving and departing aircraft, 97 00:06:48,820 --> 00:06:53,820 and is responsible for controlling flights up to 16 kilometers from the tower. 98 00:06:53,820 --> 00:06:55,820 Let's put the data on the graph. 99 00:06:55,820 --> 00:06:58,820 As you can see from the data we collected, 100 00:06:58,820 --> 00:07:03,820 both the ground and local controllers believe that our simulation of airplanes on the ground 101 00:07:03,820 --> 00:07:08,820 and in the sky met our goal of being realistic compared to LAX. 102 00:07:08,820 --> 00:07:14,820 In fact, the data shows that we exceeded our goal and we were very realistic compared to LAX. 103 00:07:14,820 --> 00:07:18,820 Just as John collects data to help train pilots for safety, 104 00:07:18,820 --> 00:07:22,820 Future Flight Central will realistically simulate our nation's airports 105 00:07:22,820 --> 00:07:25,820 so they can continue to run smoothly and safely. 106 00:07:25,820 --> 00:07:31,820 Nancy, that's amazing that NASA realistically simulated one of the world's busiest airports. 107 00:07:31,820 --> 00:07:32,820 So what's next? 108 00:07:32,820 --> 00:07:36,820 The next step will be to determine what will and what will not work 109 00:07:36,820 --> 00:07:40,820 when proposed changes are made to the LAX operating environment. 110 00:07:40,820 --> 00:07:44,820 Because Future Flight Central is a safe place to try out new airport procedures, 111 00:07:44,820 --> 00:07:50,820 both time and money will be saved as LAX continues to put safety first. 112 00:07:50,820 --> 00:07:51,820 Thanks, Nancy. 113 00:07:51,820 --> 00:07:57,820 Okay, so far on today's show, Dan and I have flown from Virginia all the way to California. 114 00:07:57,820 --> 00:08:03,820 And during this flight, we learned how NASA's wind tunnel tests are helping train pilots to be even safer. 115 00:08:03,820 --> 00:08:06,820 We also learned how airplanes and passengers get from gate to gate 116 00:08:06,820 --> 00:08:09,820 and how NASA uses simulations to make airports safer. 117 00:08:09,820 --> 00:08:13,820 So, do you have what it takes to be an air traffic controller? 118 00:08:13,820 --> 00:08:19,820 See if you can safely and efficiently land airplanes at Norbert International Airport.