We’re so used to thinking of NASA in the context of space exploration that most of the time we forget that the federal agency is also responsible for advances in aeronautics. As their name suggests though, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is very much focused on the science involved with the study and design of air flight-capable machines.
Over the past decade, NASA has partnered with industry and academia to advance the cause of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and their eventual integration into the National Airspace (NAS). The inevitable addition of unmanned aircraft to the skies comes with plenty of complications, which range from onboard safety devices to modifications to existing air traffic control (ATC) protocols all the way to the new science of unmanned traffic management (UTM). This incredible variety is why each of these elements has a specific initiative at NASA, although they are all part of the agency’s larger Integrated Aviation Systems Program (IASP) …
NASA and the Integration of Manned and Unmanned Aircraft into Controlled Airspace
Commercial UAV News | July 12, 2019
